A murder that initially appeared to be a tragic rail accident has now been cracked two months later, with police arresting a woman and her partner for allegedly killing her husband and misleading investigators.
The accused were sent to four-day police remand after confessing and registering an FIR under the provisions of the Indian Code of Justice. (Representational Photo/HT Photo)As reported by HT beforeFaridabad police on Sunday arrested Anjani Devi (29) and her boyfriend Mohammad Riazul (30) for the murder of Suman Jha (36), whose mutilated body was found on a railway track in Meola Maharajpur on December 1.
The two accused were produced in a local court on Monday and sent to four-day police remand for further questioning. Officials said the body was so badly damaged that the case was not immediately suspicious.
1. Alcohol, stones and a staged deathThe police said that the murder took place on the night of November 30. According to investigators, Anjani and Riazul first forced Jha to drink and then took him near the railway tracks.
They allegedly killed him by crushing his head with stones, officials said. The body was then placed on the tracks, where it was mutilated after being run over by multiple trains giving the impression of an accident.
More Read
2. Bodies found on railway tracksAccording to the police, Jha’s body was recovered from the railway track in Meola Maharajpur. At the time, his identity could not be established, and there were no immediate signs indicating a murder.
With no claimants coming forward, the unidentified body was cremated three days later, in what appeared to be a routine accidental death.
3. Husband 15 years, two children then estrangementInvestigators later identified the victim as Suman Jha, a resident of Jharkhand’s Godda district. He was married to Anjani Devi for 15 years and the couple has two children, police said.
More Read
The family had been living in a rented house in Meola Maharajpur near Sector 46 in Faridabad for several years prior to the crime.
According to the police, Riazul also lived in the same area, he worked with Anjani in a private company. The two were allegedly in a relationship for the past three years.
Investigators said Jha discovered the relationship days before her murder, which police say became the trigger for the crime.
4. The police return to the bodyThe case reopened a few weeks later when Jha’s brother, Sunny, accompanied Anjani from Godda to Faridabad and lodged a missing person’s complaint with the Surajkund police station on January 18.
ACP (Crime) Varun Kumar Dahiya said, this success has come during this process.
“He was called to the Sector 46 police post and was shown pictures of various unidentified bodies and items recovered across Faridabad when he finally identified one of them from a garment,” Dahiya said.
More Read
5. Track call recordsCrime Branch officials said Anjani had returned to her maternal home in Godda at the same time and never approached the police about her husband’s disappearance. The call detail records showed that he was in regular contact with Riazul before and after the murder, officials added.
According to police, Sunny told investigators that Jha suspected his wife’s affair with Riazul before she went missing.
On Sunday, the two accused were arrested and interrogated for several hours. They later confessed to the crime, police said.
An FIR under Section 103(1) (murder) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered at the Surajkund police station on the complaint of the victim’s brother.
(with inputs from external staff)
