Policewoman Poisoned Cop Father's Milkshake. 3 Years Later, She Is Busted

On the morning of April 25, 2023, Maharashtra police officer Jayant Ballawar, 45, prepared to leave home for duty as usual. His daughter Arya, herself a serving policewoman, handed him a milkshake. He drank it and set off. By the time he reached the administrative building of the District Magistrate's office in Chandrapur, he felt dizzy. He collapsed and died.

At the time, the cause of death was recorded simply as sudden illness. No criminality was suspected. The file was closed.

Three years later, the daughter and three others were arrested in what police now describe as a premeditated murder. 

Arya Ballawar had been in a relationship with Ashish Shedmake since 2022. Jayant Ballawar opposed the relationship. According to the police, the couple decided to remove the obstacle. Arya contacted her cousin Chaitanya Gedam, 22, and paid him Rs 5,000 to obtain poison. A fourth person, whose identity has not yet been made public, supplied the substance itself.

On the morning in question, Arya mixed the poison into the milkshake and gave it to her father as he was preparing to go on duty. He consumed it and left. The symptoms appeared only after he reached the District Magistrate's office. Because the death appeared natural, no post-mortem was ordered at the time and the case was allowed to lapse.

After Jayant Ballawar's death, Arya and Ashish married. The marriage quickly soured. Ashish was dismissed from police training because of indiscipline and bad behaviour. Arya chose to continue living at her parents' house rather than move to her in-laws' home. The couple quarrelled repeatedly over these issues.

Last week, Ashish walked into the police station and confessed. He told officers that his wife had poisoned her father three years earlier, that the act had been planned in advance, and that the poison had come through her cousin. 

Police arrested four people -- Arya Ballawar, her husband Ashish Shedmake, her cousin Chaitanya Gedam, and the fourth accused, who supplied the poison. All four are in custody. 

Further investigation into the case is underway.