A horrific case of murder has come to light in Khatima in US Nagar district, where a man allegedly beheaded his live-in partner and disposed of her body in a canal. The crime, which took place in November 2024, was only uncovered on Wednesday after police arrested the accused and recovered the victim’s torso, said police.
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Inspector MM Dasauni at Khatima police station said Mushtaq Ahmed, a resident of Gauri Kheda village in Sitarganj, confessed to killing 32-year-old Pooja Vishwas, originally from Bengali Colony in Nanakmatta area of US Nagar district.
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“The two had met at Rudrapur Roadways bus station while en route to Haryana and eventually entered into a live-in relationship in Gurgaon, where Pooja worked at a spa alongside her sister. Mushtaq, a cab driver by profession, later returned to Uttarakhand and married another woman in November 2024 without informing Pooja," he said.
He said upon learning of the marriage, Pooja confronted Mushtaq in Udham Singh Nagar. “A local panchayat was reportedly held over the matter. Following this, Mushtaq allegedly lured her to his sister’s house in Islam Nagar, Khatima, and on November 16, took her to the underpass near the Nadanna Canal on Tanakpur Road. There, he is accused of murdering her by slitting her throat. He then allegedly disposed of the body by wrapping the torso in a sheet and placing the head in a sack, both thrown into the canal," he said.
{{/usCountry}}He said upon learning of the marriage, Pooja confronted Mushtaq in Udham Singh Nagar. “A local panchayat was reportedly held over the matter. Following this, Mushtaq allegedly lured her to his sister’s house in Islam Nagar, Khatima, and on November 16, took her to the underpass near the Nadanna Canal on Tanakpur Road. There, he is accused of murdering her by slitting her throat. He then allegedly disposed of the body by wrapping the torso in a sheet and placing the head in a sack, both thrown into the canal," he said.
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He said the case remained unsolved for months until Pooja's sister, concerned by her prolonged disappearance, filed a missing person report with Sector-3 Police Station in Gurgaon on December 19, 2024. “The breakthrough came when Haryana Police, acting on leads, detained Mushtaq from Sitarganj and brought him to Khatima for questioning. During interrogation, Mushtaq admitted to the crime and led police to the spot where the body was dumped," he said.
“We recovered the torso, which was identified by the victim’s brother, Subhash, through a piece of her clothing. Efforts to locate the head are still ongoing”.