Chandigarh, 17 June

Days after the body of a Haryana-based model was recovered from a canal in Sonipat, the man she was allegedly in a relationship with has been arrested, police said on Tuesday.

Sheetal, 24, was found with her throat slit and injuries in other parts of the body on Sunday. A car was also recovered from the canal.

Sunil, the suspect, has been arrested, Panipat Deputy Superintendent of Police Satish Kumar said over the phone. He allegedly pushed the car into the canal, got himself admitted to a hospital. He also told police that he managed to swim to safety and allegedly tried to pass it off as an accident.

The DSP said Sheetal alias Simmi and Sunil allegedly had an altercation before she was killed. She had been missing since Saturday.

Sheetal, who worked as a model making music videos, had gone to Ahar village in Panipat for some shoot on Saturday where Sunil allegedly met her and later she went into his car.

They got into an argument -- Sheetal was allegedly upset that Sunil had hid that he was married, the DSP said. This issue had led to arguments in the past as well, he said.

Police also said Sheetal had also made a call to her sister with whom she lived in Panipat, telling her that Sunil was "beating" her.

However, the family later could not reach her as her phone was switched off. They approached police with a missing persons complaint.

Anil Kumar, a police officer from Panipat, said on Monday that they were both married. Sheetal, he said, was living separately from her husband.