Four people, including the wife of the man, have been arrested, police said. (Representational)
A woman in Uttar Pradesh's Greater Noida has been arrested along with her live-in partner and two other men for allegedly killing her husband and setting the body on fire in a bid to hide evidence, police said on Saturday.
The woman, who had separated from her husband in 2018, had herself called up the emergency number of the police on Thursday morning to inform about the incident, claiming her husband had been set on fire by unidentified persons inside his home, the officials said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Greater Noida) Amit Kumar said the episode, which took place at Nilauni Mirzapur village under Rabupura Police Station limits, was planned by the woman, identified as Neha, who had her eyes on her husband Veerpal alias Pappan's property and money.
“During the investigation, it was found that Veerpal was killed on the night of February 9 itself and the next morning his body was set on fire by accused persons to destroy the evidence,” Mr Kumar said.
“Four people, including the wife of the man, her partner Mukesh Kumar and two other men -- Bhudev Sharma and Rajkumar -- hired by them for the killing, have been arrested. It was a blind murder case that has been solved within 36 hours of its reporting,” the DCP added.
According to officials, the couple had got married in 2008 and had three children -- two daughters and a son. A few years ago Neha got into an illicit relationship with Mukesh Kumar, alias Sonu, who had a clothes' shop in Dankaur town, with the affair becoming a gossip point in their village and a cause for frequent quarrels between the husband and wife, too, the officials said.
In 2018, Neha and her two children started living with Mukesh in Dankaur town, while one daughter stayed with Veerpal, the officials said.
Besides the house in Nilauni Mirzapur, Veerpal also had a property in Ballabhgarh, Haryana while some of his land near Greater Noida had been acquired by the local Yamuna Expressway Authority for which he was supposed to be getting some money soon, they said.
“Neha, who had started living with Mukesh, had her eye on the property and money of her estranged husband. She had planned the whole episode to get the property and money,” an official said.
The woman had found out that Veerpal would be going out of his house for a family programme on February 9. She and her associates reached Veerpal's house around 9 PM and hid in the basement of the building, the official said.
“Veerpal returned home an hour later and went straight to his room. The four reached his room shortly later and overpowered him, stuffed a cloth in his mouth and strangled him to death,” the official added.
They later dumped a pile of bed sheets, clothes and quilts on the body, sprinkled petrol over it and set it on fire, the police official said, adding all four then quietly left for their houses and the police were alerted about the “fire incident” the next morning by the woman.
According to officials, Rajkumar, who was hired for the job for Rs 5,000, had brought 5 litres of petrol with him when he reached the village with Bhudev Sharma, who got Rs 50,000 for the job.
The police said an FIR has been lodged at the Rabupura police station and the accused have been remanded in judicial custody.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)