THANE: Nearly a year after a 50-year-old man went missing, the police have arrested his wife and her paramour for allegedly killing him, chopping the body into pieces and dumping the remains in a forest in Navi Mumbai, officials said on Tuesday.The accused allegedly murdered the man in August last year, but the crime came to light only recently after the victim’s brother grew suspicious over his prolonged disappearance and alerted the police.During questioning, the victim’s wife and her alleged paramour reportedly confessed to the murder and revealed that they had dismembered the body before dumping the remains in a forest, the station house officer of Rabale MIDC police station said.The victim, identified as Baliram Suryanath Kushwaha, lived with his wife, Sunita (40), and their two children in Airoli, Navi Mumbai.According to investigators, Sunita was allegedly involved in an extramarital affair with Rahul Dashrath Prajapati (30), an autorickshaw driver. When Baliram discovered the relationship and objected to it, the two allegedly conspired to kill him, the official said.On the night of August 9, 2025, after sending the couple’s children to a relative’s house, the accused allegedly strangled Baliram in his sleep before slitting his throat, the official told news agency PTI.In an attempt to destroy evidence, they allegedly dismembered the body into three parts, packed the remains in sacks, and transported them in Prajapati’s autorickshaw to the Gawli Dev hill forest, where they dumped the body parts at different locations, he said.After the murder, Sunita allegedly rented out the family’s home and moved to Ghansoli in Navi Mumbai with her children.The horrific crime remained buried until April this year, when Baliram’s brother visited Sunita and grew highly suspicious of her evasive explanations about his brother’s sudden disappearance, prompting him to lodge a missing person’s complaint.To evade being caught, the accused frequently changed their phones and SIM cards. However, the Call Detail Records (CDR) showed constant communication between the two, the police said.During a sustained interrogation, the duo confessed to the crime. They were arrested on Sunday and booked under sections 103 (murder), 238 (destruction of evidence) and 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the official said.Police have recovered some of the victim’s remains from the dense Gawli Dev forest, while efforts are underway to trace the remaining body parts, the official said.The two accused were produced before a local court following their arrest and have been remanded to seven days of police custody, he added.(With agency inputs)
