Arrest made in Hicksville slaying

A manhunt for a Hicksville man who police said fatally stabbed his mother-in-law and attacked his estranged wife has ended with his arrest in Queens, Nassau police said Thursday morning.

Authorities on Wednesday arrested and charged Harpal Hira, 33, with second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder in the Aug. 2 slaying of Meena Kohli, 56, and stabbing of her daughter, Ritika Hira, 23.

Kohli came to the defense of Ritika Hira, who survived the attack during a family party, police said. Hira's sister waited nearly two minutes to speak to a police operator.

Harpal Hira was tracked down in Richmond Hill at 2:20 p.m., Nassau police said. The arrest was made at 95th Avenue and 116th Street.

The search for Hira was widespread, appearing on "America's Most Wanted."

Arrested with Hira was Parmit Puar, who police said "knowingly drove defendant Hira to and from various locations to avoid discovery or apprehension by the police."

Puar, 48, of 125th Street in South Ozone Park, was charged with hindering prosecution and will be arraigned Thursday in Hempstead along with Hira.

Police did not disclose Puar's connection to Hira.

Kohli, a native of Kuwait, was visiting her daughter at the Hira family's Ingram Drive home and celebrating her 56th birthday and the birth of the Hiras' infant twin sons at the time of her death. Ritika Hira was hospitalized in stable condition and put under police guard after the attack.

At the Ingram Drive house Thursday morning, a neighbor came by to take in the garbage cans.

"We've all been pitching in," said the neighbor, who declined to give her name.

"I'm so glad to hear they found him. At least she'll be at ease a bit," she said, referring to Ritika Hira.

When asked if the neighborhood had been worried about Harpal Hira being on the loose, she replied, "Oh, absolutely."

Isabelle Yun, who lives across the street from the Hiras, said that she had been keeping a wary eye on their house.

"Once in a while at night, I check if someone turned on the light over there," said Yun, 44, a nail salon employee. "It's a horrible story."

"I'm glad they caught him," she added.

Prosecutors will ask that Hira, who was expected to be arraigned sometime Thursday morning or afternoon, be held without bail, a law enforcement official said.

An order of protection against Hira forbade him to see his wife, Kohli and a housekeeper dating back to two months before the murder. The order was issued following his arrest in a domestic dispute, police said.

In that case, on June 5, court records say, Hira "grabbed [his wife] by the throat with his hand," choking her, and cut her mouth while trying to put his fingers down her throat. After Kohli and a housekeeper stepped in during the June dispute, Hira threatened to kill his wife, records say. Hira was charged with third-degree assault and menacing in that case, police said.

By SOPHIA CHANG AND ADAM ABRAMSON
Posted Wednesday, August 27, 2008

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