Meerut to Manali: Taxi driver unknowingly ferries murder couple on 800-km trip

On March 4, Saurabh Rajput, a 29-year-old former merchant navy officer, was allegedly killed by his wife Muskan and her partner Sahil

Ajab Singh, a taxi driver from Meerut, had no idea that a routine trip to Himachal Pradesh in early March would turn into a chilling chapter of crime and deception. For Singh, a weathered man in his late 40s, the experience remains disturbing. “I’ve driven all kinds of people, but this was something else. They fooled me without even trying,” he said, still shaken by the revelation. His passengers, Muskan Rastogi, 27, and Sahil Shukla, 27, were not just a couple on vacation—they were fugitives who had allegedly murdered Muskan’s husband, Saurabh Rajput, hours before the journey began.

For taxi driver Singh, a weathered man in his late 40s, the experience remains disturbing. (Sourced)

What followed was a chilling road trip where the couple masked their crime behind an eerie calm, leaving Singh haunted by the revelation.

On March 4, Saurabh Rajput, a 29-year-old former merchant navy officer, was allegedly killed by his wife Muskan and her partner Sahil in their rented Meerut home. His body was dismembered, sealed in a cement-filled drum, and left behind as they booked Singh’s sedan for a ₹54,000 trip to Shimla and Manali.

Singh picked them up on March 5, noticing their unsettling composure. “They seemed like any other couple on vacation,” he recalled. However, the journey soon revealed subtle oddities.

Covering 800 km across Himachal Pradesh, the duo rarely spoke to each other. “Most couples chat or laugh on such long drives, but they barely interact,” Singh said. Muskan made only two hushed phone calls to her mother, while Sahil routinely stopped for alcohol. Muskan, too, quietly drank beer on the way back but never appeared intoxicated.

In Shimla, she casually requested a birthday cake for Sahil via WhatsApp, instructing Singh to text instead of calling. A viral video later showed her feeding Sahil the cake, their celebration masking the horror they had left behind.

During Holi in Manali, the couple briefly broke their silence, participating in a colour-throwing festivity captured in another clip that later shocked the nation.

The couple spent six days in Kasol, maintaining a low profile. “They introduced themselves as husband and wife and rarely left their room,” a hotel staffer told police. “They didn’t even ask for cleaning,” a hotel employee told police.

On March 17, Singh dropped them back in Meerut, unaware of the crime. “They didn’t seem worried or hurried,” he said. “I had no idea what they’d done.” A day later, police uncovered the brutal murder.

With the crime exposed, police traced Singh’s journey and recorded his testimony, which became crucial evidence. “They didn’t panic, they didn’t argue—they didn’t even seem nervous,” Singh said, still grappling with the revelation. “If I’d known, I’d have gone straight to the police.”

Social media footage, hotel records, and Singh’s account painted a chilling picture of two fugitives vacationing while their crime remained undiscovered.

SP City Ayush Vikram said, “The entire case is under detailed investigation. We have contacted the taxi driver and the hotels where the accused stayed. A police team will be sent to Himachal Pradesh to gather further details. Soon, we will be filing a chargesheet in court.”