Delhi man held in Prayagraj for ‘planned murder’ of wife after Kumbh dip

A man travelled 675 km with his wife, from Delhi to the Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj, only to allegedly kill her because he was having an extramarital affair.

Ashok Kumar (48) apparently told the police that he was inspired by crime thrillers to dispose of his wife in that fashion. He allegedly tried to cover his tracks, but was tracked down by the police through CCTV footage and social media posts.

Planned murder

Ashok reportedly reached Prayagraj with his wife, Meenakshi (40), on the pretext of taking a holy dip at the Sangam on February 18. What Meenakshi did not know was that Ashok had also brought a knife with him from Delhi.

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They headed straight for the Sangam for the holy dip but did not put up in any hotel or lodge for the night. According to Ashok, they would have asked for proof of identification, which he did not want to leave behind. Instead, they went from door to door in the Azad Nagar locality, looking for accommodation.

Spat over extramarital affair

Eventually, an elderly woman, Gayatri Devi (72), took pity on them and let them stay in the first floor of her home, as her son, Sanjay Bind, had left the city for some work.

Once they were settled in, Ashok and Meenakshi reportedly got into another spat about his extramarital affair with an unnamed woman back in Trilokpuri, Delhi. During the argument, Ashok allegedly took out the knife and slit her throat, leaving her dead body in the washroom to be discovered by Gayatri Devi the next morning.

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Alibi ready

While Ashok reportedly claimed to the Jhunsi police that he was drunk when he killed Meenakshi, evidence shows he planned the murder meticulously, police said. Back at the Sangam, he had even taken videos of him and Meenakshi and posted them on his social media handles as his “alibi”.

He even went to lodge a missing persons complaint at the Jhunsi police station, claiming he “lost track” of his wife in the Maha Kumbh rush, DCP (City) Abhishek Bharti told the media. Ashok also informed his family in Delhi that his wife was lost and got separated from him.

Family suspicious

However, Meenakshi’s brother, Pravesh Kumar, and her sons Ashwani and Adarsh contacted Jhunsi police on February 21 with a tip-off that they suspected Ashok was behind her disappearance. They also told the police that Ashok was in an extramarital affair and that had caused several arguments between the couple. Meenakshi’s brother and sons helped Jhunsi police identify her body through her clothes and photos.

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Based on this tip-off, Jhunsi police jumped into action and scanned CCTV footage and tracked his location via his mobile phone number and arrested him in the Baihrana locality late on February 21.

Ashok is currently lodged in Naini jail.