The Uttar Pradesh Police has arrested the main accused involved in the killing of Jhansi's first woman autorickshaw driver, said officials on Saturday. The victim, who was identified as 35-year-old Anita Chaudhary, was found dead on Monday (January 5) near the Station Road in Jhansi and her post-mortem report revealed that she was shot at.
According to the police, Anita had left her home at 9.30 pm on Sunday (January 4). After she did not return home, her family complained to the police. Later, her body soaked in blood was found at around 2.30 am at the Station Road which comes under the jurisdiction of the Navabad Police Station.
A love affair and a murder
Following this, Anita's husband, Dwarika Chaudhary, filed a complaint, accusing three people -- Mukesh Jha (37), his son, Shivam (18) and his brother-in-law, Manoj (35) -- of Anita's murder. Based on his complaint, a first information report (FIR) was registered. While Shivam and Manoj were arrested on Monday evening, Mukesh had gone absconding.
Soon, the police launched a probe to hunt down Mukesh and even declared Rs 25,000 award on him. The police said that Mukesh and Anita were in a relationship for the past six to seven years. However, they had a dispute lately, after which Mukesh killed Anita.
Accused held after encounter
Acting on tipoff, the police launched an operation to hunt Mukesh on Friday night. During the operation, Mukesh fired at the police, forcing officials to retaliate. In the retaliatory firing, Mukesh was shot in the right leg and was subsequently arrested and sent to the medical college for treatment.
During the interrogation, Mukesh told police that he murdered Anita as "felt betrayed in love". The police have also recovered the pistol using which the murder was committed. "The police are conducting a detailed investigation into the matter," Superintendent of Police (City) Preeti Singh said.
(With inputs from Akash Rathore)
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