Months after the man gruesome murder of a man by his wife and her lover in Meerut, another chilling case has emerged from Uttar Pradesh's Ballia district- where a 44-year-old woman, with the help of her lover and two others, allegedly hacked her ex-army soldier husband into six pieces, police said on Tuesday.
Accused dumped the body parts in different locations
The incident came to light on Saturday when severed hands and legs, wrapped in polythene, were discovered in a field near Khareed village under the jurisdiction of Sikandarpur Police Station.
The accused reportedly dumped the body parts at different locations in an attempt to conceal the identity of the victim and mislead investigators.
The victim was later identified as Devendra Kumar, a 62-year-old retired Army personnel, police said.
Four people arrested
Maya Devi, his wife, initially attempted to mislead the investigation by lodging a missing person complaint on May 10 at the Ballia City Kotwali Police Station, claiming her husband was untraceable. However, the case took a dramatic turn when her own daughter, Ambli Gautam, came forward and testified against her, directly accusing Maya Devi of murdering her father.
Following the daughter's statement, police booked Maya Devi under relevant sections for murder and placed her under arrest.
Ballia Superintendent of Police Omveer Singh informed reporters on Tuesday that Maya Devi had confessed to murdering her husband with the help of her lover, truck driver Anil Yadav, and two accomplices — Mithilesh Patel and Satish Yadav.
According to police, Mithilesh Patel was arrested on Monday, while Anil Yadav and Satish Yadav were apprehended on Tuesday.
How did they kill Devendra Kumar?
According to the police, the group murdered Devendra Kumar inside his residence in the Bahadurpur locality. After killing him, they dismembered the body into six parts — severing both arms, legs, and the head — before dumping the pieces in separate locations to prevent identification.
Acting on Maya Devi's confession, police recovered the torso from a well in Khareed Darauli village.
On Tuesday, during a vehicle check near Town Polytechnic in Parikhara, police intercepted Anil Yadav and Satish Yadav. The duo opened fire on the police team, prompting retaliatory action in which Anil Yadav was shot in the leg. He is currently undergoing treatment at the district hospital.
From the spot, police recovered a country-made pistol, a spent cartridge, and a live round from Anil Yadav. Satish Yadav was found carrying the weapon allegedly used in the murder.
Singh said that Maya Devi masterminded the killing due to her illicit relationship with Anil Yadav.
Similar incidents in UP
The gruesome Ballia murder has sent fresh shockwaves through Uttar Pradesh, adding to a disturbing pattern of spousal killings that have emerged in the state in recent months.
In March, a chilling case from Meerut involved a former merchant navy officer who was murdered by his wife and her lover. The duo stuffed his body into a drum and filled it with cement to conceal the crime.
In April, a similarly horrifying incident came to light from Deoria, where a woman and her lover murdered her husband just ten days after his return from Dubai. They chopped his body in two and dumped the parts in a suitcase in a field. The body was identified through the airline tag still attached to the luggage.
In Auraiya, another case of betrayal surfaced last month. A newlywed man was murdered just 15 days into his marriage by his wife and her lover, who hired a contract killer to carry out the act.
(With PTI inputs)
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