She Asked Him To Destroy Phone, He Kept It. Lover's Mistake Unravels Murder

Tired of her criminal husband's repeated assaults under the influence of drugs, a 34-year-old woman plotted his murder. The criminal was killed and his body dumped in a canal in another state. The woman started prepping for a new life with her lover. But her murdered husband's phone and her lover's mistake foiled all her plans.

Cops from Delhi Police crime branch had been looking for Pritam Prakash, who had a long criminal record and had been declared a proclaimed offender in a case. What they found was a grisly plot in which Pritam's wife, Soniya, gave a supari for his murder so that she could begin afresh. Soniya and her lover, Rohit, have now been arrested and they have admitted to their involvement in Pritam's murder.

The Beginning

Soniya, now 34, has told police that she married Pritam, 42, when she was 16 and married him despite objections from her family. The couple had a son and two daughters and lived in Delhi's Alipur. Pritam was addicted to drugs and involved in multiple crimes, including illegal possession of firearms, robbery and kidnapping. Soniya has told police that her repeated attempts to make Pritam quit drugs and crime did not work. He would come home under the influence and assault her, she has told police.

In 2023, she connected with Rohit, a cab driver with a criminal past, on social media. The two began a relationship and eventually decided to marry. But Pritam was an obstacle. Soniya then decided that he would have to die for her to start a new life.

The Supari And The Murder Plot

Soniya has told police that on July 2 last year, she had a fight with Pritam and went to her sister Deepa's house in Haryana's Sonipat. Rohit drove her to Sonipat. On the way, she asked him to murder Pritam so that they could be together. Rohit has previously been involved in four criminal cases, including one of murder. He had then started working as a cab driver on the Delhi-Sonipat route.

Rohit told Soniya that he would not be able to kill Pritam and asked her to arrange Rs 6 lakh so that he could hire a killer. Soniya did not have this kind of money. The conversation did not proceed and Rohit dropped Soniya off at her sister's home.

The Plan 'B' And The Murder

On July 5 last year, Pritam went to Sonipat to bring Soniya home and they had another argument. Determined to get him killed, Soniya then approached her sister's brother-in-law, Vijay. Vijay said he would kill Pritam for Rs 1 lakh. Soniya said she could only arrange Rs 50,000. The deal was struck.

That evening, Pritam again urged Soniya to come home with him. She refused and told him to stay at her sister's home that night. Soniya then asked Vijay to finish him off that night. Pritam and Vijay slept downstairs, while Soniya and others went to the terrace. Vijay murdered Pritam, wrapped his body in a sheet and threw it near a drain. Soniya found Pritam's phone and kept it with her. Days later, Pritam's body was found in the drain. It was not identified and the case went cold. To cover her tracks, Soniya filed a missing complaint at Alipur, stating that her husband had been missing since July 5. She gave Pritam's phone to Rohit and asked him to destroy it.

How Police Cracked Case

The unravelling of the chilling murder case started with a routine probe into a missing criminal's disappearance. A crime branch team detected that Pritam had been missing for months. They then found that his wife had filed a missing complaint, but no breakthrough followed.

When they tracked Pritam's phone, they found it was being used and its last known location was Sonipat. Rohit, despite Soniya's instructions, had not destroyed Pritam's phone.

Police then kept watch over Rohit and his criminal past came to the fore. Eventually, he was taken into custody and grilled. Rohit initially tried to divert attention and said he had bought the phone from someone, but broke down when pressed further. He then revealed his affair with Soniya, her plot to get Pritam murdered, her 'supari' to a relative, and how Pritam was killed and his body disposed.

The Wife's Confession

After Rohit, the police picked up Soniya and questioned her. After initial denials, she confessed to the crime and accepted that she paid Vijay to murder Pritam, police have said. She also told them that Vijay sent her visuals of Pritam's body after disposing of it. Delhi Police's Crime Branch then reached out to Haryana police, who told them that the body found in the drain was not identified, but its DNA samples were preserved.

Soniya also told police that after Pritam was murdered, she paid Vijay Rs 50,000. She then sold a vehicle belonging to him and got Rs 2.80 lakh. She gave some money to Rohit and spent some. During this time, she asked Rohit if he had destroyed Pritam's phone. He said he had -- a lie that would cost them dearly.

Rohit and Soniya have now been arrested. Vijay was earlier arrested in a theft case and is now in jail. Incidentally, police have said, Rohit married in April despite his relationship with Soniya.