Maharashtra: Caterer kills and buries wife in forest, 2 days later exhumes body to burn it

PUNE: A 35-year-old caterer, his father and his two friends were arrested on Thursday on the charge of strangulating his wife to death, burying the body in the Alandi forest and exhuming the same two days later to burn it out of fear that the police might trace it.
"The caterer, Goraksh Baban Deshmukh, his father, Baban Shivling Deshmukh (62), and his friends, Roshan Gajanan Bhagat (22) and S Munde (21), have admitted before the police that they strangulated Asha (30) to death around 2am on September 29 and buried her body in Alandi forest the same night. Around 10.30pm on October 1, they again went to the forest to exhume the body and set it ablaze. Another accomplice is on the run," said inspector Anil Devde of the Chakan police.

Devde said, "Goraksh suspected his wife of infidelity and this led him to the crime at his house in Medankarwadi village in the Chakan MIDC area. Initially, Goraksh lodged a report with the police stating that Asha had gone missing since 11pm on September 28. But there were discrepancies in his claims and we also wondered if 11pm was a time for someone to go missing from home. We questioned him on this and one of our constables told him that even if he had buried his wife, the police would find her."
Devde said, "Fearing the constable's warning, Goraksh and his accomplices later exhumed the body and burnt it in an attempt to destroy the evidence. But it was raining then, and the body did not burn completely. The suspects then threw it in a water body. We got to know about the body from the residents of the area."
The police have recovered the rope used to kill Asha, besides the bottle in which the suspects carried petrol for burning the body. A court has ordered the four men's custodial remand till October 11.
The police said Goraksh and Asha had a strained relationship for the last two years. "After killing Asha, the suspects wrapped the body in a blanket and took it to the forest area on a motorcycle. They dug up a two-foot deep ditch and buried the body. When they feared that the police might trace the body, they exhumed and burnt it. When it did not burn completely, they threw it in the water body," said Devde.
The officer said, "The residents of the area spotted the body afloat and informed us. Based on the details of the woman given in the missing complaint and her clothes, we established her identity," said Devde.
Goraksh has been running a catering business and providing food to the employees in the Chakan MIDC area for the last few years. He has two children.