NEW DELHI: Sohan Lal (32), a small-time transport agent from Hodal in Haryana, had long suspected his wife of having an affair with a distant cousin. Itching to take revenge, he scripted his own "murder" and framed his wife and in-laws so they "paid for their ungrateful act".
"Lal hatched a plan and faked his own murder to get his wife, Laxmi, and her brothers arrested. He suspected that Laxmi was in an illicit relationship with a relative from her parental side. For revenge, he not only got into an illicit relationship with his minor sister-in-law and eloped with her, but went to the extent of murdering an innocent man and passed off the dead body as his own. He did everything to get his wife arrested on charges of murdering him,'' said DCP (crime) Ashok Chand. Lal was recently apprehended from Okhla where he was living in with his 16-year-old sister-in-law.
According to additional DCP P S Khuswah, Lal disclosed that he learnt about Laxmi's illicit relationship with Sonu from his sister-in-law. He hatched a conspiracy with his friend and business partner, Chandan, to find a person of his age, built and height who could be killed and passed off as him. His father, Ganga Ram, and brother, Sanjay, were co-conspirators who agreed to identify the body as that of Lal.
Lal and his friend drove across Delhi, Faridabad, Hodal and Palwal for 10 days to identify the "perfect victim". "Finally, around midnight on March 20 they found a drunk young man lying under the Bata Chowk Flyover at Faridabad. They killed him, put him in their car and drove towards Palwal. They threw the body in Palwal canal after disfiguring it. Lal planted his purse, which carried his PAN card and other IDs, on the body,'' said Chand.
Sources said his sister-in-law knew about his plans. On March 21, Lal's in-laws forced his sister-in-law to stay at her maternal uncle's residence but Lal followed her there. The duo eloped and came to Badarpur.
On March 22, a decomposed body discovered in the canal was identified as that of Sohan Lal.and local police from Camp police station at Palwal reached the spot. It was identified as that of Sohan Lal.
Two cases were simultaneously lodged. "Laxmi's father lodged a case against Lal and Sanjay for kidnapping the minor girl. Sohan's family named Laxmi, her lover Sonu, brother-in-law Jal Singh and Sonu's father Inder Singh for Lal's murder. Laxmi, Jal and Inder were arrested. All of them, residents of Mathura, are in jail. They face trial as Faridabad police filed chargesheet against them based on circumstantial evidence," said Khuswah. Sonu and Laxmi's two brothers are absconding.
"Lal disclosed that he induced Sonu's sister to enter into an illicit relationship with him and support his plan. After committing the murder, Lal eloped with her. He said The accused claimed there was another reason for eloping. Lal and his family members were sure that family members of the girl with whom he had eloped would name him as the alleged kidnapper and that would be another motive for the girl's relatives to murder him and would ensure the arrest of his wife and their relatives for his fake murder,'' said DCP Chand.
Cops have now registered a case of murder against Lal though all other accused, including co-accused Chandan, are absconding. Haryana police is conducting raids to nab them.
Lal's family stayed at Bharat Nagar in Old Faridabad in a rented accommodation. Lal married Laxmi in 2002 and they have a four-year-old boy and two-year-old girl. He worked as a transporter in a reputed computer manufacturing company.
Courtesy:
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