Police in Meerut, in India’s Uttar Pradesh state, have arrested a man’s wife and a young man on charges of killing him with a snakebite. Police allege the killing was staged as an ordinary accident to claim a 20-lakh-rupee insurance payout and to allow the two to continue their relationship.
The dead man was Atul Panwar. He and his wife, Damini, ran a pre-primary school called “Krishna Kids Play School” in Hastinapur, Uttar Pradesh. Atul’s body was recovered from his bed on Friday morning. Atul and Damini had married in 2019, the news agency PTI reported.
Meerut’s Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) said the initial investigation had found that Damini was in a relationship with Tushar, alias Nikki, the driver of their school van. According to police, Damini and Tushar had first tried to kill Atul by staging a road accident, and after that failed they made a new plan; police allege two others were also involved in the conspiracy.
Superintendent of Police (Rural) Abhijit Kumar said that, as alleged, Damini first gave her husband milk mixed with sleeping pills, after which he fell unconscious, and a venomous snake was then released in the unconscious Atul’s bed. After being bitten, Atul was taken to a local community health centre on Friday morning, where the doctor on duty declared him dead.
Police said the killing had two main aims: to claim the 20-lakh-rupee insurance in Atul’s name, and to remove Atul so Damini and Tushar could continue their relationship. The incident was made to look like a natural death from a snakebite so as not to arouse suspicion. Although it first appeared to be an ordinary snakebite death, police grew suspicious and investigators began examining the circumstances closely. Police said that by analysing the suspects’ mobile phone call records and other digital data, the conversations between Damini and Tushar and the alleged conspiracy came to light, after which the two were arrested. Officials linked to the investigation said Tushar is himself married and had been planning to divorce his wife before the killing. Police are continuing to investigate to trace the other accused.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report