Ghaziabad: Woman, male friend, arrested for her husband’s murder

The police said the prime suspect Rajesh used to be Manoj and Radha’s tenant for a while and he developed relations with Radha over the past one year. The police said they planned to kill Manoj in order to live together

Three voice call recordings between suspect man and his woman friend, another 2.21 hours of voice recording during her husband’s murder and a CCTV footage from the Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE) led police to unearth the murder plot of a 27-year-old man who went ”missing” on April 7 from Daulatpura locality in Ghaziabad.

Rajesh Gupta and Radha Gupta in police custody on Wednesday. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The Ghaziabad police in this connection arrested 32-year-old Rajesh Gupta and Radha Gupta, his woman friend, for allegedly hatching a conspiracy and killing her husband, Manoj Gupta, 27.

The police said the prime suspect Rajesh used to be Manoj and Radha’s tenant for a while and he developed relations with Radha over the past one year. The police said they planned to kill Manoj in order to live together.

“The two suspects came close as the relations between the couple was not cordial. Radha knew that Manoj had a drinking habit. As planned, she sent him to meet Rajesh near Lal Kuan on April 7 where they had drinks. Later, when Manoj lost his senses, Rajesh strangulated Manoj to death in his truck and took the body to his factory in Dadri. Early next day, he set out for transporting factory goods to Haryana via EPE,” said Gyananjaya Kumar Singh, deputy commissioner of police (city).

The police said the suspect dumped the body near EPE under jurisdiction of Dadri police station in Gautam Budh Nagar on April 8. The same day, the body was discovered by the police and identified as that of Manoj, officers said.

Manoj’s wife then approached the Sihani Gate police with a missing person complaint. The police, after identifying the body, called Manoj’s father Ramkhiladi Gupta in Aligarh and he revealed that Radha and Rajesh were having an affair.

The police picked up Rajesh and Radha for questioning and they broke down and admitted to the murder.

“They told about the entire planning. There were three call recordings in Radha’s mobile of her and Rajesh planning the murder. Another two hours and 20 minutes of voice recording was recovered from Manoj’s phone. The voice recording button of his phone got inadvertently pressed while he was getting murdered. It has voice of suspect Rajesh,” said Ravi Kumar Singh, assistant commissioner of police (city 2).

The ACP said that they also recovered a CCTV footage from EPE in which suspect Rajesh is seen untying a rope from his truck and taking the rope to the truck cabin.

“The same rope was used to strangle the victim. All evidences are very crucial to build a strong case against the suspects,” the ACP said.

The police said both Rajesh and Radha were arrested under Indian Penal Code Section 302 (murder) and 120b (criminal conspiracy) at Sihani Gate police station.