Surat: Man who gave police false tip to frame estranged wife held over three murders
Police say a husband's false information against his estranged wife and her relatives led to the discovery that both he and she were linked to three killings.
A man who, after separating from his wife, gave the police false information to implicate her and her relatives in a murder case has been found in the course of investigation to be linked, along with her, to three murders. Police say the probe that began on that information took a shocking turn as it progressed.
Police have arrested Madhavdas Bhaktiram Sadhu and his estranged wife Urmila alias Jaya Madhavdas Sadhu. The investigation has found that the victims include Urmila's grandmother, her sister and Madhavdas's mother.
The case is linked to Surat. In 2022, the detection unit of the Ahmedabad city police crime branch received information that Shanta Vasava had been murdered and her body buried inside a house in Kosamba, near Surat. Acting on this information, police detained a male relative and questioned him, but found no link between him and the case. Police suspicion then turned to Madhavdas.
According to the police investigation, Madhavdas and Urmila had been living apart for about eight months. Urmila had taken jewellery and cash with her when she left home, which angered Madhavdas. Police claim that this was why he gave false information to implicate Urmila and her relatives in a murder case.
During questioning, police are said to have received more shocking information. The investigating agency claims that the three murders were carried out with the involvement of Madhavdas and Urmila. It is alleged that after Shanta Vasava was killed in 2022, her body was placed in a drum, the drum was filled with cement and then buried in a pit. During the investigation, police have exhumed the body buried underground following due legal procedure.
Urmila's sister Bhagwati Kamlesh Vasava was suffering from tuberculosis. According to the police investigation, she was killed by pressing a pillow over her face and her body was buried in the ground. Madhavdas's mother and Urmila's mother-in-law, Manjula Bhaktiram Sadhu, was also seriously ill with paralysis. Police claim she too was killed by pressing a pillow over her face. The investigation is also said to have found that she was cremated in haste to destroy evidence.
After the discovery of the three murders, police have begun examining the information obtained from the accused, the evidence and the remains of the bodies. The investigation continues into the real motive behind the three murders, whether anyone else was involved and what methods were used to destroy evidence. As a probe that began with a false tip four years ago has led directly to three murders, the scope of the case is likely to widen.
