Chandigarh, April 15: A 22-year-old girl fell to her death from the third floor of a Gurgaon mall in the small hours today, allegedly pushed by her employer after an argument over money.

The police have registered a murder case against Ashok Rajput, who owns two restaurants at the upmarket MGF Mall and had hired the victim, Sonis Javed, as his marketing manager.

“We are investigating the matter and have registered a murder case against Rajput following allegations from her (Sonis’s) parents that she was deliberately thrown off the building from a window,” a police officer said over the phone from Gurgaon.

Sonis had reportedly just returned from Mumbai where she had gone on work.

The police said that around 1.30 am today, she and another person had gone to the mall to meet Rajput over money he allegedly owed her.

“An argument followed but the matter was sorted out with the intervention of the other person and all three then had dinner (at the restaurant),” the officer said.

“After this person left, Sonis and Rajput began arguing again.

“Around 3 am, a loud thud was heard by the watchman who found Sonis lying on the floor,” the officer said.

Rajput, believed to be politically well-connected, is in hiding but police have detained two persons for questioning.

“Sonis is believed to have told them before she died that Rajput pushed her,” the officer added.

None of the waiters and other employees at Rajput’s two restaurants, Sun City and Ice Berg, who witnessed the argument, has been able to provide their boss’s address to the police.

“We have sent search teams to various places in Gurgaon and Delhi to nab Rajput. It’s strange that those working at the two restaurants do not know the address of their employer,” Gurgaon police chief Hanif Qureshi said.

The police are also investigating the role Sonis played as marketing manager for the two restaurants.

“Why should restaurants employ marketing executives?” a police officer connected with the investigation wondered.

The police are probing whether the person who accompanied Sonis to the mall had any role in the tragedy.