New Delhi:
Pune: A man has been arrested for allegedly murdering his wife. According to the police the crime was carefully planned over months, reportedly inspired by the Bollywood thriller Drishyam.
Police say Samir Punjabrao Jadhav, 42, killed his 38-year-old wife, Anjali, a school teacher, by strangling her, then burned her body in a self-made kiln and later disposed of the ashes in a river. Police began investigating after Jadhav filed a missing person report on October 28, claiming his wife had left home two days earlier to meet a friend.
However, the CCTV footage contradicted his story, showing Anjali leaving home with him on October 26. The police noticed his story wasn’t consistent and questioned him repeatedly.
During questioning, Jadhav confessed that he had committed the murder, saying he suspected his wife of having an affair.
Police said he was motivated by suspicions of his wife having an affair. DCP Sambhaji Kadam revealed that Jadhav had even faked text messages to create “proof” of the alleged affair.
An FIR has been filed under Section 103 (murder) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, and the case is now with the Rajgad police station for further investigation.
Investigators discovered that Jadhav had watched Drishyam four times and planned the murder and body disposal inspired by the film. About a month before the crime, he rented a godown in Shindewadi, 25 km from Pune, for Rs 18,000, and built a kiln stocked with fuel and wood.
On the night of the murder, he took Anjali on a drive, stopped at the godown, and strangled her around 10 PM while they were eating. He burned the body overnight and disposed of the ashes in a river the next day, and then dismantled the kiln to remove any traces of the crime. Before the incident, he sent his mother and two children away and even cleaned the crime scene to remove evidence.
After that, he returned home and started pretending nothing had happened, and began looking for the updates on the missing person case.