Meerut Murder Accused Long-Time Drug Abusers, Were Intoxicated Before Crime

The two accused arrested for the murder of a former Merchant Navy officer in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut have been long-time abusers of dry and injectable drugs and had consumed psychotropic substances before committing the crime on March 4, probe officials said on Monday. 

Muskaan Rastogi and her lover Sahil Shukla, who brutally killed her husband Saurabh Rajput, have been addicted to drugs since 2019. The duo consumed drugs before carrying out the murder and later travelled to Himachal Pradesh's Kasol in search of more substances, the officials added. 

The details emerged as officials began interrogating Muskaan and Sahil in the murder case.  

"On an earlier occasion too, Muskaan and Sahil had visited Manali and Kasol for drugs. The accused will be counselled for about 15 days," an official said. 

Senior jail superintendent Viresh Raj Sharma on Sunday told news agency ANI that the two are experiencing withdrawal symptoms and are being provided treatment. The duo wanted to be lodged in the same barrack but were told that as per rules, it was not possible, the officials added. 

Earlier, a cab driver who was hired to take the accused from Meerut to Shimla, Manali and Kasol said Sahil used to regularly purchase alcohol and used to drink at least two bottles everyday. Muskaan had also consumed alcohol while they were returning to Meerut after the trip. 

On March 4, Muskaan and Sahil, her lover, stabbed her husband to death and dismembered his body, before sealing the parts inside a drum with cement. Police earlier said that Saurabh was allegedly drugged before his murder. On Sunday, probe officials said Muskaan had tampered with her husband's prescription to purchase sleeping pills to drug him before killing him. 

After committing the crime on March 4, Muskaan and Sahil set off on a vacation to Shimla, Manali and Kasol in Himachal Pradesh, all the while misleading the victim's family by sending them messages from his phone, according to the police. 

The murder came to light on March 18, when Muskaan confessed to her mother, who reported her to the police. Muskaan and Sahil were subsequently arrested.  

Doctors who conducted the post-mortem reported that Saurabh was stabbed in the heart with extreme force thrice, indicating a sustained and violent attack. "The blows from the sharp long knife pierced deep inside the heart," one of the doctors said.

The post mortem revealed that Saurabh's head was severed from the body, both hands were cut off from the wrist and his legs were bent backwards, suggesting an attempt to fit the body in a drum. The cause of death has been attributed to shock and excessive bleeding.

Saurabh and Muskan got married in 2016 against his family's wishes, following a relationship and they had a six-year-old daughter. Muskaan and Sahil had known each other since school and reconnected via a WhatsApp group in 2019, police said.

Asked whether Saurabh's daughter knew about her father's death, his mother Renu Devi said the girl had been telling neighbours, "Papa is in the drum". "She must have seen something."

Muskaan has demanded a government lawyer to fight her case. In an application, she said that since the incident, "my parents are angry with me, no one will fight for me. Therefore, I want a government lawyer who can fight my case in the court", according to Mr Sharma.