Bhind, April 11 A 23-year-old woman is alleged to have conspired with her lover to have her husband killed in Bhind, Madhya Pradesh, days after a similar crime came to light in the state's Dhar district, police said on Saturday.
The accused, Ruby, allegedly tried to pass off the murder, which occurred in an area under the jurisdiction of the Ater police station, as a robbery, an official said.
Ruby and her lover, Vishal Vimal (21), are in custody, while another accused, Rajesh Kushwah, who assisted in the murder, is on the run, Superintendent of Police (SP) Asit Yadav told reporters.
On April 8, police were informed that an unidentified group had shot dead Nilesh Jatav (27) in front of his wife, Ruby, and their child while he was riding a motorcycle.
Ruby told police that they were returning from village Jamna to Kharika when her bag fell on the Ridoli-Kharika road.
Yadav said she claimed that as her husband stopped the motorcycle and she went to pick up the bag, two unidentified men arrived from behind, shot her husband, and fled.
Police launched an investigation after registering a murder case against unknown persons.
"During the investigation, the wife's statements appeared suspicious. Police then questioned her using psychological methods, which led to the case being solved," the SP said.
He said that Ruby had been in a relationship with Vimal, a relative, for nearly seven years, and they remained in constant contact through WhatsApp calls and chats.
The woman felt that her husband had become an obstacle in their relationship, the official said.
According to the plan, the woman deliberately dropped her bag at a predetermined spot while travelling with her husband on the motorcycle and asked him to stop. When Jatav stopped the two-wheeler, Vimal and his associate allegedly shot him dead.
The official said that police have seized a 12-bore country-made pistol, empty cartridges, a motorcycle without a registration number, and mobile phones from the arrested accused.
He added that Rajesh Kushwah, who assisted in the crime, is still on the run, and efforts are being made to trace him.
In a similar recent case in Dhar district, a woman recently allegedly conspired with her lover and hired a contract killer to eliminate her husband. She had initially tried to portray the incident as a robbery before confessing during questioning.