Meerut murder: Killer knives bought 8 days before wife, lover murdered husband

A woman in Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, who murdered her husband along with her lover, had bought the two killer knives and a sharp razor eight days before the grisly crime, and rehearsed how to stab multiple times.

Muskaan Rastogi, who is accused of killing her husband Saurabh Rajpur, a merchant navy officer, on the night of March 3 after drugging him to sleep, bought the knives for ₹800.

According to the police, Muskaan was not sure if she will be able to use the knife successfully and so bought a blade, with which Saurabh's throat was slit. The body was chopped into 15 pieces.

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

Intoxicated murderous duo

Muskaan and her lover Sahil Shukla have been arrested for allegedly murdering her husband Saurabh Rajput at their Meerut home on the night of March 3.

Ironically, Saurabh was aware that his wife was having an affair with Sahil Shukla. He had arrived in Meerut from London, where he worked, in a bid to take along his wife and their six-year-old daughter to the UK.

But Muskaan refused to accompany him since she did not want to leave her lover. A frustrated Saurabh then decided to take the daughter and leave his wife behind in Meerut.

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

This is when the murder plot was hatched by the lovers who regularly consumed drugs. The police said earlier that both Muskaan and Sahil were intoxicated when they had committed the crime.

The prime accused

An officer said the murder revealed a sinister tale of addiction, betrayal and ruthlessness.

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

According to the police, Muskaan, now designated the prime accused, drugged Saurabh with sleeping pills. As he slept, she stabbed him thrice with a knife. She then used the razor to slit his throat.

Sahil then used a knife to sever the head from the torso. The two then chopped off the body into 15 pieces. These pieces were stuffed into a drum, which was sealed off with wet cement.

But when they called some labourers to dispose of the drum, the men could not even lift it because of its weight. However, even as the labourers were struggling to lift the drum, its lid came off and the stench of Rajput’s decomposed body was unmistable. The labourers fled the scene and according to reports, Muskaan panicked and went to her parents' home and later confessed to her father what she had done.

Meanwhile, Saurabh's family had filed a missing complaint and while investigating the case, the police arrested Muskaan and her lover. And the duo admitted that they had killed Saurabh and that they had stuffed his body parts in a drum.