Friend, kin murder woman over Rs 3 lakh loan

Noida: A 40-year-old woman was allegedly strangled to death by a friend and her relatives, who stuffed the body in a steel trunk and dumped it in the Ganga canal in Hapur district.
Police said that Sashi, who lived in Noida’s Shahpur village, was yet to get around Rs 3 lakh from her friend Anjali and had been prodding her to pay the money for the past few days.
On July 16, Anjali, who works in a beauty parlour, visited Sashi’s house and invited her to her rented accommodation in Tigri. When Sashi reached Anjali’s house, the latter’s husband Virendra (38) and his brother-in-law Dinesh (40) were already present there.
Sashi, police said, was offered a soft drink laced with sedatives. When she lost consciousness, Anjali allegedly strangled her to death with a dupatta.
“The three then bundled the body in a steel trunk. Anjali’s husband Virendra, who works as a labourer, owns a jugaad-gaadi (a cart attached to a bike or scooter). He and Dinesh loaded the trunk onto the vehicle and travelled to neighbouring Hapur district, where the dumped the body in the canal. That was around 1.30pm,” said Yatendra Yadav, the SHO of Expressway police station.
When Sashi did not return home, her husband and other family members searched for her in nearby areas, but could not find her. They approached the police the next day.
A police team reached Anajli’s house after coming to know that Sashi had left home with her on the morning of July 16. “She was detained, but tried to mislead the cops by giving contradictory statements. After sustained questioning, she admitted to having killed Sashi,” the police officer said.
Sashi’s body, meanwhile, was recovered by the police in Hapur. They conducted an autopsy and cremated the body after waiting for three days.
“After Anjali admitted to the crime, Shashi’s husband was taken to Hapur and he identified his wife’s clothes and other belongings. Anjali only spilled the beans on the role of her husband and his brother-in-law,” Yadav said.
Anjali and the two others were arrested on Thursday from Sector 132. Virendra’s father Balkishan was also picked up for allegedly planning the murder and trying to eliminate evidence.
Additional DCP (Noida) Ranvijay Singh said Sashi would lend money to people against interest. She had lent Anjali, whom she knew for the past 4-5 years, Rs 10 lakh, but Anjali had returned a major part of the amount. Around Rs 3-4 lakh was left to be paid, the police said.
“Sashi had been repeatedly asking Anjali to return the money, but the latter was unable to do so,” Yadav said.
Anjali and the three others have been booked under IPC sections 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence), 34 (common intention) and 120B (criminal conspiracy).
The dupatta with which Sashi was allegedly strangled was recovered along with the three-wheeled motor cart on which the body was transported to Hapur.