11 months on, wife and boyfriend held for man’s murder

The accused, identified as Sunita Baliram Kushwaha, 40, and Rahul Dashrath Prajapati, 30, an autorickshaw driver from Ghansoli, were arrested after investigators uncovered alleged inconsistencies in the woman’s statements

NAVI MUMBAI: Nearly 11 months after a 50-year-old Navi Mumbai man went missing, police have arrested his wife and her boyfriend for allegedly murdering him, dismembering his body and dumping the remains at different locations in a forested area in Rabale.

11 months on, wife and boyfriend held for man’s murder

The accused, identified as Sunita Baliram Kushwaha, 40, and Rahul Dashrath Prajapati, 30, an autorickshaw driver from Ghansoli, were arrested after investigators uncovered alleged inconsistencies in the woman’s statements and linked the two through mobile phone records.

According to police, Baliram Kushwaha disappeared in August 2025 after telling his family he was leaving for Asang Baba Ashram in Uttar Pradesh following a minor argument at home. When he failed to return after several months, his brother approached Rabale MIDC police, who registered a missing person’s case.

According to the police, the investigation took a turn after officers noticed that Sunita had never reported her husband missing and repeatedly gave inconsistent statements. Police also found that she had rented out the family’s house, moved to Ghansoli with her children and started living with Prajapati without informing any of her relatives.

Technical analysis of mobile phone records allegedly revealed frequent contact between the two, police said. During interrogation, the accused allegedly confessed to plotting the murder as Baliram had become an obstacle to their relationship, police said.

Investigators alleged that Sunita first sent her children to their aunt’s house before killing her husband on the night of August 8, 2025, while he was asleep. The body was allegedly cut into three pieces, wrapped in a bedsheet and gunny bags, transported in Prajapati’s autorickshaw and dumped at different locations in the Gavli Dev hill area.

Based on the findings of the investigation, the Rabale MIDC police registered an FIR on July 10, 2026, under Sections 103(1) (murder), 238 (causing disappearance of evidence) and 3(5) (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and arrested both the accused. They were produced before a local court and remanded to police custody till July 17.

Police are now searching the Gavli Dev hill area to recover the victim’s remains.