Godda, February 15 A woman, who was allegedly having an affair with her brother-in-law, was arrested on charges of murdering her husband in the Godda district of Jharkhand, police said on Sunday.
Besides the woman, two hired killers were arrested on Saturday, while the brother of the deceased is still at large.
The 32-year-old victim was killed with an axe on January 27 in Maangan Pipra village under the Mahagama police station limits.
Mahagama SDPO Chandrashekhar Azad said, "We have arrested three people, including the victim's wife. However, the deceased's brother is still at large, and efforts are being made to apprehend him. The victim's wife, Soni Devi (30), had been having an illicit affair with her brother-in-law, Rohit Modi, for about 4 to 5 years. Both wanted to get married, and therefore they eliminated the victim."
During the investigation, it came to light that the entire incident was jointly planned by the woman and her brother-in-law. For this, Rohit had arranged a contract killer for Rs 1 lakh with his village friend Mohammad Shain. Then Shain involved his neighbor Vijendra Paswan alias Bido in the crime and paid him Rs 25,000, he said.
During interrogation, the accused confessed to their involvement in the crime. The axe used in the murder and other related items have also been recovered.
As per the conspiracy, Shain and Vijendra had purchased an axe, and on January 27, as per Rohit's instructions, they called the victim out of his house on the pretext of drinking alcohol. They struck him on the head with the axe, killing him, another official said.
In this connection, an FIR has been lodged, and all three have been sent to judicial custody.