'Uploaded videos as alibi': Delhi man kills wife after Ganga snan, claims she went missing at Maha Kumbh

PRAYAGRAJ: A 48-year-old Delhi-based man, who had brought his wife (40) to Sangam city for Ganga snan during Maha Kumbh and murdered her on Feb 18, was arrested from Bairana area on Friday night, police said.
The accused, identified as Ashok Kumar of Delhi's Trilokpuri, was booked for murder and tampering with evidence.
Police said Kumar was not on good terms with his wife as she was against his alleged extramarital affair.
DCP (City) Abhishek Bharti told TOI that Kumar hatched a conspiracy and found the Kumbh Mela the best opportunity to get rid of his wife. The accused, a sanitation worker with Delhi Nagar Nigam, also uploaded many videos of their Kumbh tour and snan on his social media account to create an alibi.
Moreover, the accused, after killing his wife, visited the police station concerned the same day to lodge a missing person's complaint and then went into hiding.
Bharti said the accused along with his wife, arrived in Prayagraj from Delhi on Tuesday and rented a room at Azad Nagar, Ketwana (New Jhunsi), but didn’t submit their ID proofs. The next morning, the body of the woman was found inside the bathroom with no trace of Kumar.
Following the incident, the body was sent for postmortem and a probe was launched. Police scanned CCTV footage and social media platforms to get clues.
“We received evidence on Feb 21 (Friday) when the deceased’s brother, Pravesh Kumar and her sons Ashwani and Adarsh of Delhi’s Trilokpuri contacted Jhunsi police and identified her with the help of clothes and photos. They identified her as Meenakshi. When police quizzed the family members, they learned about the bitter relationship between the couple. A joint team of Jhunsi, Special Operation Group (SOG) and surveillance cell of Prayagraj police traced the accused through CCTV footage and managed to arrest him,” Bharti said.
The accused confessed that he had an altercation with his wife and slit her throat with the help of a knife. He later dumped the blood-soaked clothes and the knife into a dustbin in the mela area and escaped. The official said the accused had been hatching the conspiracy to kill his wife for the past three months.