Honeymoon Murder 2.0: Out On Walk, Man Dies In Hit-And-Run Planned By Wife

It was a Friday evening. Ashish and Anju, a newlywed couple from Rajasthan, were out on a walk when a vehicle hit them. While Ashish died on the spot, Anju was robbed of her gold jewellery and left unconscious on the road. What appeared to be a case of hit-and-run took a 180-degree turn and gave cops a deja vu as they were reminded of Meghalaya's honeymoon murder, where a woman, Sonam Raghuvanshi, got her husband, Raja Raghuvanshi, killed on their honeymoon.

The police investigation has revealed that Anju got Ashish killed by her boyfriend, Sanju, and two others and tried to pass it off as an accident. It is now being called Rajasthan's honeymoon murder.

Ashish and Anju married three months ago.

Evening Of January 30

Amrita Duhan, Superintendent of Police, Sri Ganganagar, said the cops received the information on the night of January 30, at around 9. The police were told that a couple was lying unconscious on the road.

The couple was taken to the Community Health Center (CHC), where the doctors declared Ashish dead.

"We were informed that a man had been hit by an unidentified vehicle, leading to his death. We surveyed the accident site and also called the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team to investigate from the technical point of view," said Duhan.

Anju, 23, told the police that she and her husband had stepped out for an evening walk when an unidentified vehicle hit Ashish and her. She also claimed that she was robbed of the gold jewellery she was wearing.

Anju planned Ashish's murder with her ex-boyfriend.

The police, however, grew suspicious during the investigation as it spotted discrepancies between on-ground reality and Anju's testimony.

Ashish's body had injury marks, and he also appeared to have been strangled, as per the medical report. Anju, on the other hand, seems to have escaped without injuries.

According to the police sources, Anju's phone records also established that she was in regular contact with Sanju, a man who lived close to her house.

Reunion With Ex-Boyfriend

Anju and Ashish married three months ago, but Anju was reportedly unhappy and went back to her hometown soon after. There she reconciled with her ex-boyfriend, Sanju, and the two are said to have planned Ashish's murder during that time.

"Anju had started accompanying Ashish on his post-dinner walks," said Duhan.

On the night of January 30, Anju took Ashish to an isolated road, where the three attackers - Sanju and his accomplices, Rocky, also known as Rohit, and Badal, alias Siddharth - were allegedly hiding in the bushes.

Sanju and his accomplices

"They attacked him brutally and also strangled him and then tried to pass it off as a road accident," Dhuan added.

Anju gave away her phone and earrings to the accused to make it appear like she had been robbed. After the attack she pretended to be unconscious, but the injury marks on Ashish' body led to the unraveling of the plot.

Police sources say they also got suspicious as Anju kept changing her statement and contradicting the sequence of events.

The police have arrested all four accused.

Similarities With Meghalaya's Honeymoon Murder

Raja Raghuvanshi and his newlywed, Sonam, boarded a flight to Meghalaya for their honeymoon days after their marriage in May. Twelve days later, he was dead, and his body was found in the wilderness of Meghalaya.

Sonam, along with her lover, Raj Kushwaha, a former worker at her family business, planned to kill Raja during the honeymoon and make it look like an accident. Three hired men attacked Raja with machetes near Wei Sawdong Falls while Sonam was there. His body was thrown into a gorge, and the phone was switched off.

Days after the murder, Sonam appeared at a dhaba in Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur and was taken into custody. Kushwaha and three other hired killers were also arrested.