Autopsy revealed high dose of anaesthesia was the reason behind her death. (Representational)
A 24-year-old pharmacist along with his two girlfriends allegedly killed his wife by forceful anaesthesia in Bhubaneswar, police said on Wednesday.
The incident happened on October 28, but came to light only after the post-mortem examination revealed foul play, they said.
Pradmunya Kumar, the pharmacist, and his two girlfriends -- Roji Patra and Ejita Bhuyan, both nurses -- have been arrested, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Pinak Mishra said.
Pradmunya married Subhashree in 2020 after dating for years, and since then he has been torturing her. For the last six months, Subhashree had been living with her parents in Khurda as a result, police said.
Amid his problems with Subhashree, Pradyumna met Ejita last year and got close to her. He met Roji in March this year, and the three got along well.
They allegedly conspired to kill Subhashree and at about 2 pm on October 27, Pradyumna brought his wife to Roji's house in Sampur area where she was overdosed with drugs meant for anaesthesia, police said.
An unconscious Subhashree was taken to the Capital Hospital on October 28 where Pradyumna told doctors that she tried to die by suicide. She was eventually declared brought dead.
The post-mortem examination revealed high dose of anaesthesia drugs was the reason behind her death, which prompted the police to further investigate the case, Mr Mishra said.
"After discussing with the medical officer, who conducted the post-mortem examination, we got the clue that it was not just an unnatural death and there was some foul play involved. We interrogated the accused, who confessed that they had forcefully injected anaesthesia drugs into the deceased," he said.
A special team has been formed to conduct a detailed investigation into the sensational case, the DCP said.
"If required, we will take the prime accused on remand and recreate the crime scene," he said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)