Chandrapur teacher, 49, held for killing woman and burying body in empty Hingna house
Police say the accused hid the body in his car boot for about 24 hours before burying it in a vacant house in Nagpur's Hingna area.
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Chandrapur police have arrested a 49-year-old teacher on the allegation that he killed his girlfriend, kept the body hidden in his car boot for about 24 hours and then buried it in a pit dug in a vacant house in Nagpur's Hingna area. The case has been compared to the Bollywood film Drishyam.
The accused is Santosh Bhagwan Sakharkar, 49, a teacher by profession. He is charged with the murder of Vaishali Vilas Tipley, 45, a resident of Chandrapur. Police say the two were in a relationship.
According to police, the two had an argument on October 14. It is alleged that during this quarrel Sakharkar struck Tipley on the chest with a heavy object, causing her death.
Police say the accused allegedly put the body in the boot of his car and kept it hidden for about a day. Instead of disposing of it in Chandrapur, he decided to take it to Nagpur, where he had access to a house that had been lying vacant for several years.
It is alleged that on October 15 he drove from Chandrapur to Nagpur with the body. He went to the Aadhar Nagari area of Hingna, where the vacant house stood. Police say he dug a pit in a room at the back of the house, buried the body and laid floor tiles over it so that no sign of the burial would be visible. He then returned to Chandrapur.
Investigators suspect that on the way back the accused threw Tipley's mobile phone into a railway tunnel to destroy an important link in the case. Police sources said the move was meant to mislead suspicion and obstruct the investigation.
A missing-person complaint had been filed after Tipley disappeared, and Chandrapur police began an inquiry. Clues linked to her mobile phone and her call detail records (CDR) were examined, which allegedly drew police attention to Sakharkar.
According to a police statement, the accused allegedly confessed to the murder during questioning and told officers where he had buried the body in Hingna. Chandrapur police then coordinated with Nagpur police and arranged a search of the vacant house.
On the night of October 17, Chandrapur police brought the accused to Hingna to identify the burial site. The excavation was carried out in the presence of local police personnel and revenue officials. The entire proceeding was video-recorded to keep the record secure. After digging at the spot he indicated, police recovered Tipley's body from the pit at about 1.30 am on October 18.
After the panchnama and other formalities were completed at the spot, the body was handed over to Chandrapur police for further legal action. Chandrapur police are continuing the investigation. The allegations against the accused will go through the legal process.
