Police have arrested a woman and her alleged lover on charges of killing her husband. They are accused of deliberately using a venomous snake to make the murder look like a natural death from snakebite. The incident took place in Meerut in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

The victim, Atul Panwar, ran a play school in Hastinapur with his wife Damini. They married in 2019 and lived there.

Police claim the investigation found that Damini was in a relationship with the school's driver, Tushar alias Nikki. They first tried to kill Atul by staging a road accident, and when that plan failed they adopted a new method.

According to the allegations, one night Damini mixed sleeping pills into her husband's milk. When Atul lost consciousness, a venomous snake was released on his bed. After he fell ill from the bite, he was taken to a local health centre, where a doctor declared him dead.

Police said the murder had two motives: to obtain about 20 lakh rupees in life insurance, and to remove the husband so the affair could continue.

At first the case looked like a natural death from snakebite. But investigators uncovered the murder plot by analysing details from the scene, mobile phone call records and other evidence.

Damini and her alleged lover Tushar were then arrested. Police said Tushar is also married, and the investigation found he had been planning to divorce his wife.

Efforts are under way to identify others involved, and the investigation is continuing. The report was based on NDTV.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.