In what can only be deemed as a disturbing twist in the sensational Raipur murder case, on Tuesday night, the Chhattisgarh Police brought back the accused couple-Ankit Upadhyay and his wife Shivani Sharma-from Delhi, where they had been arrested at the airport.
The couple is charged with the murder of a 45-year-old man with a physical handicap named Kishore Paikra, and the attempt to hide a body by putting it in a steel trunk filled with cement.
The police are expected to present the accused at court today and seek remand so they may interrogate them further. Police say there is likely to be more incredibly shocking revelations in the coming days. According to police, the motive appears to be related to a property dispute.
Police say Kishore Paikra, the dead man, had land registered in his name that was sold for 50 lakh rupees. The people who had supposedly been taking care of him, the accused, were involved in that sale, but told Kishore it was only worth 30 lakh rupees. When Kishore found out about the other 20 lakh rupees, he asked for the money and the police believed Ankit and Shivani decided to murder him.
They allegedly murdered him, put the body in a metal trunk, poured cement into it, and dumped it in a deserted area of a colony in Raipur.
Raipur SSP Lal Ummed Singh said the couple was apprehended at the airport in Delhi. The Chhattisgarh Police arrived in Delhi after determining where the couple was based on CCTV footage and intel from local vendors.
Investigators said officers identified the couple after police tracked a trunk with the label of “Habbu Bhai” back to a store in Golbazar in Chhattisgarh. The shopkeeper remembered selling the trunk to a young couple who fit the couple’s description. CCTV footage and the store video helped police stay on course and focus on the right suspects.
The murder was investigated after locals in the colony began to question the situation. The couple had visited the colony on June 16 to look for rental property. The next day, Ankit reportedly rented a flat on the third floor. The couple was captured by CCTV cameras shortly before they disposed of the trunk at an isolated location on June 23. One resident even called police after seeing Ankit remove the trunk from the lift, which they believed looked suspicious.
When police later found the trunk containing Kishore’s body entombed in cement, the link became obvious to the missing man.
