In a major breakthrough, the Delhi Police on Monday claimed to have solved an eight-year-old murder mystery of a man by arresting his wife’s paramour and their associate. Police said after the murder, the woman’s paramour along with his driver took the body to Alwar, Rajasthan, in a car and buried his remains in a pit along the Kishangarh Bas highway. The Crime Branch of the Delhi Police also recovered 27 bones of the victim which were spread over 70 kilometres in Alwar.

The accused persons have been identified as Kamal Singla (31), resident of Alwar and his driver Ganesh Kumar (27), resident of Bihar’s Samastipur while Sahkuntla, the wife of deceased Ravi Kumar, is still at large.

On March 23, 2011, Ravi Kumar had gone missing and an FIR was registered at Kapashera police station. In the complaint, father of the victim stated that his son Ravi along with his wife Shakuntala had left his house to meet his brother-in-law in Samalkha, Delhi.

“Thereafter, he never returned. His wife Shakuntala told police that, on the fateful day, while they were going to Samalkha, her husband Ravi Kumar went away with someone after telling her that he would return in five minutes. She kept waiting for him but he never returned,” BK Singh, Additional Commissioner of Police, Crime Branch said, adding in October 2011the investigation was taken over by the Crime Branch.

“During investigation all three suspects, Shakuntala, her brother and Kamal Singla were questioned by the Crime Branch but no breakthrough could be achieved. A polygraph test of suspect Shakuntala and Kamal was conducted and they were found to be truthful in their statements,” the Additional CP said.

“On Brain Mapping Test (BMT) Shakuntala’s brother was given a clean chit. However, the BMT nailed Kamal and it was revealed that Kamal had convinced Shakuntala to marry Ravi and then to avoid any relation with him. ‘Isolated experiential knowledge responses’ of the BMT also signified that Kamal had killed Ravi by strangulating him,” Additional CP added.

“During interrogation, the accused Kamal disclosed that that in the year 2010 he had constructed a house at Village Tapukda, Alwar and Shakuntala lived in his neighbourhood. They liked each other and fell in love but on February 8, 2011, Shakuntala got her married with Ravi Kumar,” said the Additional CP.

“Ravi worked as a passenger tempo driver in Delhi. Immediately after the marriage, Shakuntala returned to her parent’s home at Village Tapukda. She and Kamal were together again for some time. On direction of Kamal, she went back to her husband on March 21, 2011 and lured him to take her out on March 22,” said the Additional CP.

“Kamal then planned to eliminate Ravi Kumar. He roped in his driver Ganesh Kumar to help him in the kidnapping and murder of Ravi and promised him Rs 70,000. On March 22, 2011, after dropping Shakuntala near her sister’s house Kamal took Ravi for a drive saying that he wanted to speak to him in private,” said the Additional CP. “After reaching a secluded spot, Kamal strangled Ravi with a rope. Kamal and Ganesh then took the body to village Tapukda in Alwar, and buried it,” said the Additional CP.

“After four to five months, the accused again dug up the dead body and managed to remove some parts of it as it was already decomposed. They further scattered the residual parts in a 70 kilometre stretch of road between Alwar and Rewari District of Haryana and Rajasthan,” said the Additional CP.

“Efforts are being made to trace the remaining body parts in Rajasthan and Haryana. Police records for the year 2011 and 2012 are being checked.  The DNA test of the bones and tissue found at Alwar, Rajasthan will be done to establish the identity,” the Additional CP added.