A bizarre murder case of a man, stemming from his wife’s extra-marital affair, rocked Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut district on Saturday, where the latter and her lover hatched a deadly plot to kill her husband. They got him bitten by a snake to portray the incident as an accidental death. However, after a police probe, the cops laid hands on the woman, her lover and two of her aides, laying bare the conspiracy coined by the accused duo.

Police said the man identified as Atul Panwar was initially believed to have died after being bitten by a snake at his house in Hastinapur. However, the police later learnt that the snakebite was allegedly staged as part of a conspiracy planned by his wife Damini, her alleged paramour Tushar alias Nikki, and two of their accomplices.

According to police, Damini and Tushar viewed Atul as an obstruction to their relationship and thus hatched the plan to eliminate him. Additionally, police suspect the duo wanted to claim the money from his life insurance policy, worth Rs 20 lakh.

Snake found on bed raises suspicion

Superintendent of Police (SP, Meerut rural), Abhijit Kumar said Atul was rushed to a nearby community health centre on Friday morning after his kin reported that he had been bitten by a snake at his house. Despite medical intervention, he could not be saved.

Police found a snake lying on his bed after the incident. However, Atul’s family grew suspicious and approached the police, requesting them to probe the incident. During the probe, the cops examined the cell phone records of Damini and found that she was in frequent contact with Tushar, who worked as a driver at Krishna Kids Public School in the city, run by the couple.

Sleeping pills, snake and a sinister plan

Police said that during interrogation, Damini confessed that she was in a relationship with Tushar and the duo had planned to murder Atul. According to the SP, Panwar was allegedly given an overdose of sleeping pills mixed in milk on the night before his death. Police claimed that Tushar, along with his aides named Sonu and Uday Kumar, later brought a snake and released it into Panwar’s blanket to make the death appear like a natural snakebite incident.

The probe also revealed that the accused allegedly planned to divide the insurance money. Police said Uday and Sonu both were promised Rs 5 lakh after the amount was received.

Earlier murder attempt under scanner too

During interrogation, police also unearthed another alleged attempt to kill Panwar. The police said that around 20 days before Panwar’s death, Tushar had allegedly tried to kill him by hitting him with his car. However, he managed to survive as he was wearing a helmet at the time of the incident.