Ex-army man hacked into pieces by wife, lover in UP's Ballia; 4 arrested
Ballia (UP), May 13 (PTI): A 44-year-old woman, with the help of her lover and two others, allegedly hacked her ex-army soldier husband into six pieces in a village here, police on Tuesday said.
The accused dumped the body parts in different locations to conceal the identity of the victim.
The incident came to light Saturday with the discovery of severed hands and legs, wrapped in polythene, in a field near Khareed village under Sikandarpur Police Station.
The victim was later identified as Devendra Kumar, a 62-year-old retired Army personnel, police said.
Maya Devi, his wife, at first tried to mislead the investigation by filing a missing person complaint on May 10 at the Ballia City Kotwali Police Station.
Things took a dramatic turn, when her own daughter, Ambli Gautam, testified against Maya Devi and accused her of killing her father.
Based on the complaint, Maya Devi was booked under charges of murder and arrested.
Ballia Superintendent of Police Omveer Singh told reporters on Tuesday that Maya Devi confessed to killing her husband with the help of her lover, truck driver Anil Yadav, and two others, Mithilesh Patel and Satish Yadav.
Mithilesh Patel was arrested on Monday, while Anil Yadav and Satish Yadav were nabbed on Tuesday.
According to police, the group killed Devendra Kumar inside his home in Bahadurpur locality and then cut the body into six parts, severing both arms, legs, and the head, before dumping the pieces in separate locations to prevent identification.
At Maya Devi's instance, police recovered the torso from a well in Khareed Darauli village.
On Tuesday, during a vehicle check near Town Polytechnic in Parikhara, police accosted Anil Yadav and Satish Yadav, who fired gunshots at the team. Police in retaliatory fire shot Anil Yadav in the leg. He is recuperating in the district hospital.
A country-made pistol, a spent cartridge, and a live round were recovered from him, and from Satish Yadav, the murder weapon.
The SP said Maya Devi orchestrated the murder because she had an affair with Anil Yadav.
The brutal killing, which has triggered shock and anger in the area, comes as the latest in a string of similarly executed spousal murders that took place in Uttar Pradesh in recent months.
In March, a former merchant navy officer in Meerut was killed by his wife and her lover, who stuffed his body in a drum and filled it with cement.
In another incident in Deoria last month, a woman and her lover killed her husband just ten days after he returned from Dubai, cut his body in two, and dumped it in a suitcase in a field.
He was identified by the airline tag still attached to the luggage.
In Auraiya, a newlywed man was killed last month barely 15 days into marriage by his wife and her lover, who hired a contract killer.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
