Diamond unit owner’s wife, two others get life term for his murder

Surat: Three persons including a woman were sentenced to life imprisonment on Wednesday for murdering a diamond unit owner Nikunj Dholiya on December 25, 2011.
The court of additional district sessions judge convicted Dholiya’s wife Hemlata alias Hemu, her friend Pravin Sutariya and Ravishankar Sav, while Hemlata’s brother Divyesh Kheni was acquitted for lack of evidence.
One contract killer Vikas Rajak is yet to be arrested. Dholiya’s body was found on Parvat Devadh Road in Limbayat police station limit on December 26.
Police investigation revealed that Hemlata suspected Dholiya of having an extra-marital affair and that he did not take good care of their only son who was suffering from chronic illness. The couple frequently over these disputes.
Hemlata then decided to get rid off Dholiya for good and plotted his murder with the help of her boyfriend Sutariya, owner of a gymnasium. They hired Rajak, a native of Giridih in Jharkhand. Rajak used to come at Sutariya’s gymnasium. Rajak took the contract to kill Dholiya for Rs 60,000 and involved his friend Sav from Mumbai.
On December 25 night, Dholiya was returning home with his Hemlata and son Rudra after having dinner at a relative’s place. On way, Hemlata asked him to stop near Zest Restaurant saying she wanted to collect payment for job work done on textile products. She used to work from home to earn additional money.
Police investigation revealed that Hemlata introduced Dholiya to Rajak and Sav as businessman from whom she needs to collect payment. Rajak then said they need to go to his house to collect payment. Dholiya agreed to go with them and took Rajak and Sav on his motorcycle while Hemlata went home with the son.
Later Hemlata contacted Dholiya’s elder brother Mukesh late in the night saying that he was not answering her calls. Soon Mukesh and other family members went out to search Dholiya and found his motorcycle on Parvat Devadh Road with blood stains on it. They lodged a missing persons report the same night.
Meanwhile, police found an unidentified body next day and verification confirmed that it was of Dholiya’s. He was stabbed multiple times and his throat was slit with sharp weapons.
“Despite knowing that she sent the husband with the murderers, Hemlata gave wrong information to police. Her interrogation helped police crack the case within few hours,” said L B Zala, assistant commissioner of police, B division, Ahmedabad, who had investigated the case.
“The prosecution argued in court that only Hemlata and Sutariya were aware of murder plan and the wife had put the husband in the situation taking advantage of trust due to their relationship. The court considered scientific and circumstantial evidences while announcing the judgement,” said Kishore Revaliya, assistant public prosecutor.