Meerut murder: How plan to dispose of body blew lid off diabolical crime

More and more chilling details emerge as investigation progresses into the Saurabh Rajput murder case in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut.

Investigators have reportedly found that Rajput’s wife Muskaan Rastogi and her lover Sahil Shukla, both aged 27, planned to dispose of Rajput’s (29) body once they returned from their Himachal Pradesh vacation, but that blew the lid off — quite literally — their gruesome crime.

Drugged and stabbed

According to the investigation so far, Muskan, who had allegedly been plotting to kill her husband, drugged his food on the night of March 3. He had returned from London — where he worked in a bakery — only on February 24, for their six-year-old daughter’s birthday.

As Rajput fell unconscious, she and Sahil allegedly stabbed him at least 10 times till he died in the early hours of March 4. They had already sent Muskan’s daughter to her grandmother’s house.

Doctors who conducted the post-mortem reported that Rajput was stabbed in the heart with extreme force thrice, indicating a sustained and violent attack. “The blows from the sharp long knife pierced deep inside the heart,” news agency PTI quoted one of the doctors as saying. The cause of death has been attributed to shock and excessive bleeding.

Also read: Meerut murder: Wife forged prescription to buy anti-depressants days before crime

Initial plan of disposal cancelled

According to Superintendent of Police (City) Ayush Vikram Singh, the couple’s initial plan was to dispose of the body in a secluded location, but the duo eventually decided to stuff it in a large blue drum, filling it with cement and sand.

The duo’s attempt to conceal the body was no less gruesome. They severed Rajput’s head from the body, cut off both his hands from the wrist and bent his legs backwards awkwardly in an attempt to fit his body in the drum, the autopsy report says.

According to media reports, they chopped up Rajput’s body into 15 pieces. Next, they poured wet cement and dust into the drum and sealed it. The duo then went on vacation to Himachal Pradesh, all the while misleading Rajput’s family by sending them messages from his phone, according to the police.

Muskan, Sahil posed as married couple

Hotel staff in Himachal’s Kasol have reportedly confirmed that Sahil and Muskan had checked in on March 10, posing as a married couple. The hotel owner has been quoted by media reports as saying that the couple, who went to Kasol from Manali, mostly stayed in their room, ordered in food, and used taxis when stepping out.

They even shot videos during their vacation, which police have reportedly recovered. Even after committing such a bone-chilling murder, with the body still in Muskan’s Meerut house, they look cheerful and relaxed in the clips.

Also read: Head, hands cut off, legs bent: Autopsy reveals shocking details of Meerut savagery

Labourers failed to lift drum

The duo returned to Meerut on March 17 and decided to dispose of the drum containing Rajput’s body. Accordingly, they called some labourers the next day but they had not taken into account the massive weight of the solid cement-filled drum. The labourers failed to even lift it.

However, as the labourers struggled with the drum, its lid came off and the stench of Rajput’s decomposing body was unmistakable even though the post-mortem team has revealed that being solidified in the cement, the body did not rot much due to lack of air. Therefore, the smell was not extremely foul.

However, made suspicious by the heavy drum and the stench, the labourers fled the scene. At this point, Muskaan panicked and left for her parents’ home, the probe has reportedly found.

Parents took Muskan to police

At first, she allegedly tried to blame Rajput’s sister and brother-in-law for his murder. But her parents, Kavita and Pramod Rastogi, familiar with her wayward ways, grilled her thoroughly, and she broke at some point.

As she confessed to the murder to them, her parents lost no time in taking her to the police station, where she reportedly spilled the beans. They have also publicly said that they will not pay for any legal aid to their daughter and have decided to sever all ties with her.

As Muskan and Sahil were arrested, the forensic team has to cut open the drum and painstakingly remove the hardened cement to retrieve the body.

Also read: Duo accused of Meerut murder suffers severe withdrawal symptoms in jail

How affair started

Rajput and Muskaan married in 2016 when he worked in the merchant navy. Rajput’s family was against the marriage and the couple lived separately, in a rented house.

Muskan knew Sahil from school and the two reportedly rekindled their friendship in 2019 via a school WhatsApp group, and it quickly blossomed into an affair.

Rajput had soon found out about the affair, but he had reportedly avoided a divorce thinking of their daughter. By this time, he had left merchant navy and was working in a London bakery.

However, he would send around Rs 1 lakh to Muskan every month for expenses. She and Sahil would then allegedly use the money to place bets on cricket matches. Sahil, especially, had been betting on IPL matches for years, police have reportedly found.

Sahil’s neighbours have reportedly claimed that he had no regular job and relied on his gambling earnings to sustain a lavish lifestyle. Apparently, he shared the earnings with Muskan too.

Also read: Meerut murder: Accused hid in Kasol for 6 days to evade arrest

Bonding over drugs

This bond grew stronger due to the absence of Rajput. According to police, drugs may have played a significant role in bringing Muskan and Sahil closer together.

“According to family members, Sahil used to take contraband drugs, which he also shared with Muskan,” SP Singh had said earlier.

The affair eventually led to Muskan planning to leave Saurabh and marry Sahil instead. “Prima facie, it appears that Muskan and Sahil considered the husband a hindrance and plotted to murder him,” a police officer had said after the murder came to light.

Murder was Muskan’s idea

According to police officials, Muskan reportedly came up with the idea to kill Rajput in November, and Sahil supported the plan. By February, when Saurabh was scheduled to return to India, the two began preparing to execute the plan.

From buying knives to obtaining sedatives and even scouting locations to dispose of the body, Muskan and Sahil meticulously planned the murder. “Muskan bought two knives with long blades, telling the shopkeeper she would use them to cut chicken. She also acted stressed to secure banned sedatives from a local drug store,” a source told PTI.

Also read: UP: Merchant navy officer’s body found sealed in drum; wife, her lover held

Failed attempt

The duo’s first attempt at the murder on February 25 failed. Rajout, who had returned just a day earlier, ate sedative-laced food served to him but only slept deeply without falling unconscious.

But on March 4, Muskan drugged his food again, and this time he fell unconscious and was brutally killed.

Muskan’s parents have admitted that she and Rajput never had a harmonious relationship, but they have placed the blame squarely on Sahil, claiming that he had introduced Muskan to drugs.

(With agency inputs)