In a shocking case from Pune that seemed like the plot of a Bollywood thriller, a man allegedly murdered his wife last month, burned her body in a makeshift furnace and then repeatedly visited the police station to feign desperation and mislead investigators. After the murder, he even sent text messages to another man to make it seem like she was having an affair.
However, the police probe ruined his twisted plan. After he was caught, he revealed that he had planned the murder after watching the Ajay Devgn-starrer Drishyam at least four times.
The accused, Sameer Jadhav, and his wife, Anjali Sameer Jadhav (38) - a private school teacher - married in 2017. Mr Jadhav was an automobile diploma holder and ran a garage.
They were living in Pune's Shivane area and shared two children who were studying in the third and fifth grades.
What The Accused Told Police
On October 26, Mr Jadhav took his wife to a warehouse that he was renting. He took her there on the pretext of "showing her the new godown". Once inside, he strangled her.
He had already built an iron furnace at the site to destroy any evidence of the crime.
Sameer Jadhav then burned her body in the furnace and scattered the ashes in a nearby river.
Their children were visiting their native village for Diwali holidays at the time of the incident.
The police initially thought that Mr Jadhav killed his wife as he suspected her fidelity. However, the probe revealed that Mr Jadhav himself was in a relationship with another woman.
To solidify his plan and cast doubt on his wife's character, he allegedly used Anjali's phone to send an 'I love you' message to one of his friends and then replied to the message himself, seemingly creating a false digital trail of her alleged affair.
The Grieving Husband Act
Following the murder, Sameer visited the police station to file a missing persons complaint and kept returning, anxiously inquiring when the police would find his "missing wife" and what progress they had made in locating the "killer."
However, rather than working for him, the performance made the police suspicious.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Sambhaji Kadam said that the police eventually cracked the case based on Sameer Jadhav's consistent questioning, analysis of CCTV footage, and thorough technical investigation. Discrepancies between his statements and the technical evidence led police to call him in for intense questioning, where he finally confessed to the crime and admitted to being inspired by the movie Drishyam.
A case has been registered against the accused at the Warje Malwadi Police Station, and the matter has been transferred to Rajgad Police Station for further investigation.
