Delhi man murders wife to claim her insurance money

Abdul Hakim Ansari, 52, got his wife, Meshar Jahan, a life insurance policy three years ago at a monthly premium of Rs 1,900. He had hoped to receive over Rs 50 lakh after killing his wife.

A west Delhi street vendor strangled his 40-year-old wife in a train’s empty compartment with the motive of cashing in her insurance policy, the police said on Friday. He was arrested on Thursday.

The accused reportedly told police that he was fed up with his wife’s alleged abusive behaviour and refusal to cook for him. He had been planning the murder for six months. (Getty Images/Picture for representation)

Abdul Hakim Ansari, 52, got his wife, Meshar Jahan, a life insurance policy three years ago at a monthly premium of Rs 1,900, Dinesh Kumar Gupta, DCP (Railways), said.

“Ansari had got his wife insured with the intention of killing her and pocketing the money,” Gupta said. The DCP said the exact amount Ansari hoped to get would be known only after verifying details with the insurance company, but another investigator said the man had hoped to receive over Rs 50 lakh.

The police said by murdering his wife, Ansari hoped to kill two birds with one stone. “Ansari claimed that he was fed up with his wife’s alleged abusive behaviour and refusal to cook for him. He had been planning the murder for six months,” he said, adding that Jahan was his third wife.

Ansari had allegedly planned to wait a few years before killing Jahan, but their frequent quarrels made him go forward with the plan. On July 6, Ansari allegedly took Jahan to Simbhaoli on the pretext of getting her treated for her leg pain. While returning, he allegedly led her into an empty compartment of the Moradabad passenger train. “The train was reaching Ghaziabad and Jahan was sleeping when Ansari used her dupatta to strangle her,” the DCP said.

Ansari allegedly deboarded the train at Vivek Vihar to avoid being captured on CCTV cameras. Ansari had also kept his mobile phone switched off so that his location could not be detected.

Around the same time that Jahan’s body was discovered by the railway police at Old Delhi railway station on July 7, Ansari got a missing person case lodged at Uttam Nagar police station .

Ansari then waited for over two weeks before visiting the police station at the Old Delhi railway station to inquire about his missing wife. “Ansari had thought that the matter would have died down and his wife’s body would have been cremated as unidentified,” the DCP said.

But the body had been preserved at a mortuary and Ansari identified it as his wife’s.

During probe, Jahan’s family suspected Ansari’s role. “He realised his plan to bag the insurance money was falling apart. So he tried to mislead us by blaming three men of taking out a contract to kill his wife,” the DCP said.

When the contract killer angle was found untrue, the police again put Ansari through interrogation during which he admitted to the crime.