Husband in divorce dispute paid 2 allies to get wife killed

He was supposedly frustrated by his wife’s alleged demands to return the money that she had put into their business and give her a financial settlement before granting him a divorce

NAVI MUMBAI: The Navi Mumbai Crime Branch said it had cracked the Ulwe murder case in which a 27-year-old female chemist Alvina Kishorsingh Rajput, also known as Alvina Adamali Khan, had her throat slashed by a masked assailant on Sunday night.

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The Crime Branch arrived at the conclusion that it was the deceased’s husband who had masterminded the killing by hiring a contract killer. Rajput, supposedly frustrated by his wife’s alleged demands to return the money that she had put into their business and give her a financial settlement before granting him a divorce, orchestrated her killing with the help of the two co-accused.

The three accused—Rajput (30), Alisha Tyagi (38) and her aide Charanjit Kaur alias Dimple (34)—were handed over by the Crime Branch, which was conducting a parallel probe, to the Ulwe police who arrested them on Wednesday evening and produced them at a court in Panvel, which remanded them to police custody till May 27. The actual killer is yet to be nabbed.

Alvina, a resident of Vijay Laxmi Tower in Ulwe’s Sector 5, was murdered on the night of May 18. While she was walking home, a masked man reportedly approached her near Radiance Splendor building, just 50 metres from her residence, and slit her throat. Alvina collapsed and bled to death at the spot.

With limited leads, the police began their investigation by questioning those close to the victim. “The assailant had covered his face, and there was no CCTV footage available,” said an investigating officer. “As the investigation progressed, we learned that the couple’s relationship had deteriorated significantly, and they were in the midst of a divorce.”

The Crime Branch Unit 2 interrogated the husband on May 20. “Initially he gave evasive answers but under sustained questioning, he confessed to having murdered his wife through a contract killer,” said ACP Ajay Landge.

Rajput and Alvina had a love marriage in 2021, but their relationship reportedly soured due to constant arguments and disagreements over financial matters. The husband and wife were both pharmacists and ran a medical store in Ulwe. The deceased had reportedly given ₹15 lakh for the business and had asked for this amount to be returned before giving her husband a divorce.

According to the police, Rajput had been pushing for the divorce but Alvina was demanding varying amounts as a financial settlement, which frustrated him further. “He feared that even after repaying the amount he would not get a divorce,” said the officer. It was during this period that Rajput became acquainted with Alisha Tyagi, who used to visit the medical store. “The two conspired to kill Alvina,” claimed the officer.

Alisha, herself a divorcee, agreed to help execute the plan for a sum of ₹6 lakh, of which ₹5 lakh were paid to her in advance. She brought in her domestic help, Dimple Kaur, as an accomplice. Dimple then reportedly contacted two contract killers from Punjab, one of whom eventually carried out the murder. The police are on the lookout for both men.

The police said the entire plan was devised and executed within a span of 10 days. Investigations are on, as the authorities work to track down the hired assailant.