The police made the arrests and solved the case in 72 hours (Representational)
The Noida Police on Friday claimed to have arrested three people, including two contract killers, who barged into the home of a 27-year-old woman and shot her dead earlier this week. The police cracked the murder case in 72 hours.
One of the three arrested accused is the 42-year-old mother-in-law of the victim. She allegedly planned the murder because she was against the marriage, the police said.
Mausam Kumar's wife Soni was shot dead inside their home in Brij Vihar colony on the afternoon of September 5 by two unidentified men who had come on a motorcycle.
This was Soni's second marriage and following the alleged murder, Mausam Kumar lodged a complaint with the police, suspecting that her former husband could be behind the killing.
"Immediately after the incident, senior officers reached the spot and an investigation was launched. Four police teams were formed and the case has been solved. Three people have been arrested," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central Noida) Suniti said.
"The main conspirator in the case was Soni's mother-in-law Geeta Devi, who hired two people - Sachin Yadav and Umesh Singh (both locals) - for Rs 1 lakh," the officer told reporters.
According to the police, Geeta Devi was not happy with her son's marriage to Soni, who had a daughter from her previous marriage.
Mausam Kumar moved out of his mother's Ghaziabad home after marrying Soni. The couple relocated to Badalpur near Noida and did not disclose the address to Geeta Devi, who complained that her son was not taking care of her and was focused on his new family, an official added.
Sachin and Umesh were arrested after being tipped off by an informer around 8 am Friday, the police said. After their arrest, the two revealed the whole conspiracy, leading to Geeta Devi's arrest from her home.
Sachin told the police that after the September 5 shootout, he and Umesh hid the pistol near a Mulberry tree close to Duriyai Girdharpur village.
"When Sachin was taken to the spot to recover the weapon, he helped find it. When he was being brought back to the police station, he suddenly pulled out the service weapon from a sub-inspector and aimed it at the police team. I opened fire in self-defence and Sachin got hurt on his left leg after which he was taken into custody again," Badalpur SHO Brahmpal Singh said.
Meanwhile, the police department has announced a Rs 25,000 reward for the team that cracked the blind murder case within 72 hours, officials said.