- 2 months ago
What happens when the murderer is not a stranger lurking in the shadows, but someone you trusted enough to let into your home, your family, even your life? Three murders across Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Karnataka appear, at first glance, to have little in common. Different states, different victims, different circumstances. Look closer, though, and a chilling pattern emerges. In each case, investigators say the killing was carried out with remarkable planning, with attempts made to disguise the real cause of death, mislead investigators and push suspicion elsewhere. Behind the elaborate cover-ups lay motives that were far more familiar: family disputes, fractured relationships and financial motives. What makes these cases particularly unsettling is not merely the manner in which the victims were killed, but who allegedly killed them.
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00:14Marriage is built on trust, a promise to stand by each other through every joy and every hardship.
00:21But what happens when that promise comes with a price tag? When the person who once vowed to
00:27protect you begins calculating the value of your life in insurance policies, compensation
00:33and cash. Hello and welcome to Postmortem where we put the spotlight on crimes that shock us
00:40yet make us want to know more and more. In this episode we bring you chilling cases where
00:46greed replaced love and husbands or wives allegedly plotted the murder of the person closest to
00:54them all for insurance money.
00:59It began like countless road accidents that happen every day. A woman's body lying motionless
01:06on the side of a deserted highway. There were no witnesses, no eyewitnesses, no obvious signs
01:14of foul play. Just another tragic accident or so everyone believed. But 48 hours later police
01:22would uncover a conspiracy so cold blooded that every piece of the puzzle pointed to the
01:29one man who had vowed to protect her. Her husband. Not because of hatred, not because of revenge,
01:37but because of her life. Because that had become worth 44 lakh rupees. This is the story of Rita,
01:45a woman whose biggest mistake may have been trusting the man she loved.
01:54Nearly two and a half years earlier, 32 year old Rita had married Amar Singh after a love affair. For
02:02Rita, it was a second chance at happiness. She had lost her first husband years ago and had started
02:08rebuilding her life by working in Kanpur. It was there that she met Amar Singh. Their friendship,
02:15blossomed into love. Against all odds, they got married. What Rita never knew was that the same
02:23relationship she believed would secure her future would eventually become the reason for her death.
02:30On the night of 29th July, villagers returning home after guarding their fields noticed something
02:37unusual near the truck lane outside Paudhia village in Hamirpur district. About two kilometers ahead of the
02:44village, a woman was lying beside the road, motionless. The villagers immediately alerted the police.
02:53Officers from Lalpura police station rushed to the spot. The body was found near the roadside and at first glance,
03:01everything suggested a fatal road accident. Police collected evidence from the scene and sent the body for
03:10post-mortem examination. Her parents' home was in Rajpur, Kanpur, Dehat. Soon after the identification,
03:17Rita's father, Sarvesh Kumar Gupta, approached the police. Convinced that his daughter's death was no accident,
03:25he lodged a complaint alleging murder. Based on his statement, Lalpura police registered a case and began
03:33investigating the death from an entirely new angle. Meanwhile, Amar Singh appeared to be behaving exactly
03:43like a worried husband. Before anyone even suspected foul play, he walked into Sumerhpur police station
03:51and reported that his wife had gone missing. Later, when police informed him that an unidentified woman's body
03:59had been found in Lalpura, he also reached the mortuary. There, he identified the body as that of his wife,
04:07Rita. To investigators, his behaviour seemed perfectly normal. A concerned husband searching for his missing wife.
04:16A grieving man identifying her body. Nothing about his conduct immediately raised any suspicion. But experienced investigators
04:26know something very important. Sometimes, the most convincing performance is put on by the killer himself.
04:35Now, the investigation was handed over to a joint team led by Circle Officer Yashpal Singh.
04:42Police reconstructed Rita's final hours. Slowly, a disturbing picture emerged.
04:48Police soon discovered that Rita had been insured under a max life insurance policy. The sum assured 44 lakh rupees.
04:59Suddenly, what looked like an unexplained death began to resemble a carefully calculated financial conspiracy.
05:09The investigation revealed another crucial detail. Amar Singh wasn't just struggling financially.
05:15He was under extreme pressure. According to police, one of his associates, Pushpendra Soni, alias Sahil,
05:24had lent him a substantial amount of money. The debt had now become a burden.
05:32Unable to arrange the money, they allegedly came up with a chilling alternative. Instead of earning money,
05:40they would collect it by cashing in on Rita's death. Each one allegedly played a role in executing the murder.
05:50According to police, everything unfolded exactly as planned until investigators began reconstructing the crime scene.
05:59On the chosen day, Amar Singh persuaded Rita to accompany him. The couple travelled towards the Paudiya Canal Road,
06:08an isolated stretch with very little traffic at night. Unknown to Rita, they were not alone.
06:15Police say Amar Singh's accomplices were already waiting there in an auto car.
06:20Every movement had been coordinated beforehand. Every person knew their role. The conspiracy was now about to reach its final
06:30stage.
06:31Police say the first impact came suddenly. The auto rammed into Rita. The collision threw her off balance.
06:40She fell into a roadside ditch. At that moment, she was still alive. What happened next, investigators say,
06:49transformed the incident from a staged accident into a brutal execution.
06:55The accused allegedly climbed out of the vehicle. They lifted Rita from the ditch and placed her back on the
07:04road.
07:04Then, they got into the car once again and deliberately drove over her.
07:10Now, this second impact, according to police, was intended to ensure that she would not survive.
07:16Once they were certain that Rita was dead, the accused fled the scene,
07:21leaving behind a body and what they hoped would be interpreted as another fatal highway accident.
07:27If the conspiracy had ended there, perhaps the plan might have succeeded.
07:32But staging the crime scene was only one part of the operation.
07:36The accused also needed to create an alibi.
07:40According to investigators, that responsibility fell upon Amar Singh.
07:44Instead of disappearing, he did exactly the opposite. He made himself visible.
07:49He approached Sumerpur police station and reported that his wife had mysteriously gone missing.
07:56Investigators now believe that this complaint was carefully timed.
08:00Its purpose, to create documentary evidence suggesting that Amar Singh had been searching for his wife
08:06even before her body was discovered.
08:10Later, when police announced the recovery of an unidentified woman's body,
08:15Amar Singh voluntarily arrived to identify the deceased.
08:20To anyone watching, he appeared devastated.
08:24But police now believe it was all part of the script.
08:28A performance designed to distance himself from suspicion.
08:32But while the accused were trying to build a false narrative, investigators were building a real one.
08:39The carefully constructed illusion began to collapse and within 48 hours,
08:45investigators were convinced that Rita had not died in a road accident and she had been murdered.
08:52Now, during the investigation, officers recovered the autocar allegedly used to execute the murder,
08:58along with an Airtel SIM card believed to have been used during the conspiracy.
09:05So for Rita, the promise of a new life ended in betrayal.
09:10A love marriage that was supposed to give her a second chance instead became the centre of a deadly conspiracy.
09:18The most dangerous enemy sometimes isn't a stranger waiting in the shadows,
09:24but someone you trusted with your life.
09:41Some murders are planned with chilling precision,
09:44where the victim has no idea that the people waiting for him at home have already signed his death warrant.
09:52This is one such story.
09:54A businessman leaves his medical store on his scooter, unaware that someone is following him.
10:02Moments later, a speeding SUV crashes into him.
10:06It looks like a tragic hit and run.
10:08The driver disappears.
10:10Another road accident, another life lost.
10:14But as police began pulling together CCTV footage, tracking the vehicles and questioning witnesses,
10:22the horrifying truth emerges.
10:24The man wasn't killed by a stranger.
10:29Police say the conspiracy began inside his own home.
10:35Planned by his wife, supported by his daughter and executed by a young nephew,
10:42they allegedly turned into a contract killer.
10:45Now this shocking case comes from Vijaypur in Gujarat's Mehsana district,
10:49where what initially appeared to be a fatal road accident turned out to be a meticulously planned murder.
11:05The victim was Vinod Bhai Patel, a well-known resident of Vijaypur, who ran a medical store.
11:12To customers and neighbours, it was just another ordinary day.
11:16On July 8th, Vinod Bhai closed his shop and left on a scooter.
11:21As he rode towards Anandpura Chowkdi, a white Maruti brezza began following him.
11:28According to investigators, the SUV maintained a close distance.
11:33Then, within moments, it accelerated.
11:37The vehicle slammed into Vinod Bhai's scooter from behind with tremendous force.
11:42The impact threw him violently onto the road.
11:45He suffered fatal injuries and died on the spot.
11:49But instead of stopping to help, the driver sped away.
11:53The white brezza vanished before anyone could stop it.
11:57To everyone present, it appeared to be another tragic hit and run.
12:01Vijaypur police registered a case of accidental death and launched an investigation to trace the unknown vehicle.
12:08At that stage, officers had no reason to believe they were dealing with anything more than reckless driving.
12:15Teams started collecting CCTV footage from roads surrounding the accident spot.
12:21Every camera, every traffic junction, every nearby establishment was checked.
12:27Hours of footage was examined frame by frame.
12:31Eventually, investigators noticed something unusual.
12:36A white brezza matching eyewitness descriptions appeared repeatedly on different cameras.
12:42But one detail immediately caught their attention.
12:46The vehicle had no number plate.
12:49That was unusual enough to raise suspicion.
12:52Was someone trying to avoid identification?
12:55They continued tracking the SUV's movement across multiple CCTV cameras.
13:01With every new clip, the mystery deepened.
13:04Then, the investigation took an unexpected turn.
13:08A crucial witness walked into the police station.
13:12His statement would change the entire direction of the case.
13:16The witness told the police that on the day of the incident,
13:19his friend Vimal Patel had taken him along in a brezza car.
13:24According to him, Vimal had said they were going to install a CCTV camera.
13:29It seemed like an ordinary outing.
13:31Nothing about the journey appeared suspicious until they reached Anandpura.
13:37The witness alleged that Vimal suddenly accelerated towards an Activa rider travelling ahead of him.
13:43And without warning, the SUV rammed into the scooter from behind.
13:48The rider was thrown onto the road.
13:50The witness immediately protested.
13:55He expected Vimal to stop.
13:58Instead, Vimal continued driving.
14:00The witness was shocked.
14:03Only later, after learning that the scooter rider had died,
14:07did he realise he might have witnessed something far more sinister than a traffic accident.
14:13He approached the police and his statement transformed the investigation.
14:19Now, armed with this information, Vijapur police wasted no time.
14:23Their investigation led them to 24-year-old Vimal Patel, a resident of Asnapura village.
14:30He was taken into custody for questioning.
14:32Vimal broke.
14:34And what he revealed, stunned every seasoned investigator.
14:37According to police, this had never been an accident.
14:41It had been a murder.
14:43A murder planned days in advance.
14:46A murder he claimed he had carried out not for personal revenge,
14:50but at the request of members of his own family.
14:53According to Vimal's confession, the conspiracy had been hatched by his aunt,
14:59Rita Bain Patel and her daughter, Shraddha Patel.
15:02The victim, Vinod Bhai Patel, was Rita Bain's husband and Shraddha's father.
15:07Police say the mother and daughter had allegedly decided that Vinod Bhai had to die.
15:12And to carry out that plan, they turned to somebody they believed would never refuse them.
15:18their own nephew, their own cousin.
15:29As investigators continued questioning Vimal Patel
15:33and verified his statements with technical evidence,
15:36CCTV footage and witness accounts, the picture became clearer.
15:40The motive?
15:41Lay inside Vinod Bhai's own home.
15:49Police learned that Vinod Bhai allegedly frequently suspected his wife, Rita Bain,
15:55and often assaulted her over domestic disputes.
15:59The relationship between husband and wife had deteriorated to such an extent
16:04that Rita Bain and her daughter, Shraddha, allegedly decided they could no longer live with him.
16:10Police say that instead of approaching the law or seeking separation,
16:14they allegedly chose another path.
16:16They decided to eliminate him.
16:25Rita Bain and Shraddha promised Vimal money and assured him that they would take complete responsibility
16:31if anything went wrong.
16:35Before carrying out the murder, investigators say Vimal carefully studied Vinod Bhai's daily routine.
16:41And since Vinod Bhai ran a medical store near Ram Mandir in Vijhapur,
16:46Vimal allegedly conducted a recce of the area as well.
16:49He observed when Vinod Bhai opened his shop, when he closed it, which route he usually took,
16:55and where the roads were relatively isolated.
16:58And on the day of the murder, Shraddha Patel played a crucial role.
17:03She remained in contact with her father and informed Vimal about his movements.
17:12The moment Vinod Bhai left the medical store on his Activa, Vimal was ready.
17:18Driving the white brezza, Vimal allegedly began following Vinod Bhai from a distance.
17:43Police detained Rita Bain Patel and Shraddha Patel for questioning.
17:48Now, with the conspiracy exposed, Vejhapur police arrested all three accused.
17:53Legal proceedings have now been initiated against them.
17:57In this case, the R.O.P. and the R.O.P. was prepared for the plan.
18:03Rita Bain, Vinod Bhai's wife, and Shraddha, Vinod Bhai's daughter,
18:11and Vinod Bhai's daughter.
18:12And Vinod Bhai, Vinod Bhai's daughter, the accident of Vinod Bhai,
18:18who looks like Rita Bain.
18:21We took them to the police.
18:24Three people accused of conspiring to end one man's life
18:28by making his death look like fate.
18:30His own people.
18:32They tell the story of a family that fell apart so completely
18:36that the road became the chosen murder weapon.
18:52Road accidents, heart attacks, natural deaths.
18:55Sometimes they're exactly what they appear to be.
18:58But sometimes they are carefully manufactured stories.
19:02Stories designed to hide a murder.
19:05In the two cases you've seen today,
19:07insurance money allegedly became the motive for murder.
19:11Now comes perhaps the most disturbing case of them all.
19:16Because according to police,
19:18this conspiracy did not end with killing a man.
19:22It allegedly extended into a hospital,
19:25a forensic lab and even government offices.
19:29A conspiracy that investigators say was worth 2 crore rupees.
19:42This story begins in Karnataka's Belagawi district.
19:4645-year-old Sandeep Manjaragi was a former serviceman.
19:50To his family, he was disciplined,
19:52hard working and planning a new chapter in life.
19:56He had recently approached a local businessman,
19:59Pundalik Dombar, for help in starting a hotel business.
20:03Together, they opened a hotel near Hitkal Dam.
20:06To everyone around them, they appeared to be business partners.
20:10But according to police,
20:12behind that business relationship was another secret.
20:16An alleged affair between Sandeep's wife,
20:19Suma Manjaragi and Pundalik Dombar.
20:22That relationship would eventually become the foundation of a deadly conspiracy.
20:27On March 13th, Sandeep was returning home after attending a temple fair,
20:33when his motorcycle reportedly skidded.
20:36The accident was minor.
20:38He was conscious.
20:39He did not suffer life-threatening injuries.
20:42He was first admitted to a government hospital.
20:45But later, his wife shifted him to JJ hospital in Ghataprabha.
20:50Nothing at that point suggested that Sandeep's life was in danger.
20:55But just two days later, on March 15th, he was declared dead.
21:00Doctors attributed the death to a heart attack.
21:03His body was sent to the BIMS hospital for post-mortem examination.
21:08The initial forensic report also concluded that no poison had been detected
21:14and that the cause of death was a heart attack.
21:18The case appeared closed.
21:20A minor accident, followed by a sudden medical complication.
21:24Or so it seemed.
21:26But Sandeep's family refused to believe that explanation.
21:30According to them, he was healthy.
21:33They found it difficult to accept that a man who had survived a minor accident
21:38would suddenly die of a heart attack.
21:41Their suspicion grew stronger when they began questioning the circumstances surrounding his treatment.
21:54Then, months after the funeral, the case took a dramatic turn.
21:59Police say the breakthrough came from an unexpected source.
22:03A WhatsApp status, according to investigators.
22:12Pundalik Dombar posted a cryptic status questioning how Sandeep had died after such a minor accident.
22:20Now, the post caught the attention of investigators.
22:24Why would a business partner publicly question the cause of death?
22:29Police summoned Pundalik for questioning.
22:36During interrogation, according to Belagavi police, he confessed.
22:40What investigators allegedly uncovered next transformed an accidental death into a murder investigation.
22:47Police claimed that Suma and Pundalik had known each other for nearly two and a half years.
22:54During that same period, insurance policies worth nearly two crore rupees had been taken out in Sandeep's name.
23:02From three different insurance companies.
23:05Investigators now believe that Sandeep had become an obstacle to their relationship.
23:11While the insurance payout became the financial motive.
23:14The road accident created the opportunity for the actual murder that took place inside the hospital.
23:27Investigators say that while Sandeep was admitted at JG Hospital despite not suffering critical injuries, he was shifted to a
23:35special room.
23:36There, Pundalik sought the help of Ramu Jogi, a hospital staff member known to him.
23:43Police alleged that Ramu suggested poisoning Sandeep.
23:47A saline bottle was allegedly procured.
23:50Poison was mixed into that drip.
23:53And while Sandeep lay recovering from what should have been a survivable accident,
24:00investigators alleged he was murdered in his hospital bed.
24:05But according to police, the conspiracy did not end with Sandeep's death.
24:10Investigators claim there was an elaborate attempt to erase every trace of that crime.
24:16Police alleged that Suma's mother, who worked as a health worker, helped establish contacts that immediately reached officials connected to
24:25the forensic process.
24:26They roped in a doctor, an FDA employee working in the Belagavi commissioner's office, a clerk at the forensic science
24:34lab and a lab assistant in their conspiracy.
24:39Finally, investigators alleged the accused approached senior scientific officer PN Nagaraj.
24:59Police claim money exchanged hands and the original forensic findings were manipulated.
25:07The first report concluded that no poison was present, allowing the death to be certified as a heart attack.
25:16Armed with fresh evidence and statements, police reopened the investigation.
25:21Nearly three months after Sandeep's burial, his body was exhumed in the presence of the assistant commissioner.
25:28Fresh samples were collected and sent to the forensic science lab for a new examination.
25:35Police questioned Suma Manjaragi and Pundalik Dombar once again.
25:41The investigation rapidly widened.
25:43According to Belagavi police, nine people, including hospital staff and individuals allegedly involved in manipulating forensic records, have now been
25:54arrested.
25:54Police described the case as a premeditated murder committed for financial gain.
26:01The fresh forensic examination and the ongoing investigation will now play a crucial role as the case proceeds through the
26:09courts.
26:14These family members believed that an insurance policy was worth more than a human life.
26:21Together, these investigations raise a disturbing question.
26:26When love is replaced by greed and trust is replaced by calculation, how far can a person go?
26:34That's all we have for you in Postmortem today.
26:37It's time for a short break now.
26:38Keep watching India Today.
26:54What are your thoughts?
26:56Today's talk.
26:59Kim Lyons.
27:04Transcription by CastingWords