Man killed by wife and stepson who chopped, refrigerated body parts

The incident allegedly took taken place on May 30. During interrogation, Poonam said she was “fed up” with Das, who was her third partner. Poonam told police that Das was allegedly “harassing” her daughter and Deepak’s wife. She said Deepak was also agitated, and they planned to kill Das, who worked as a lift operator.

Local police had found a severed head and body parts, but the body couldn’t be identified because of injuries and decomposition. Speaking at a press conference Monday, DCP Goel said, “On June 5, some body parts were recovered from Ramlila Maidan in the East district. Over the next three days, two legs, two thighs, a skull and a forearm were recovered. Efforts were made to identify the body… Our team checked CCTVs… Several teams worked but nothing was found in the first few months… later doctor analysed… and told us that it was a man’s body.”

CCTVs were checked again, and it was found that two persons were seen disposing of bags at Ramlila grounds on May 31 and June 1, said police. Records of missing persons were checked in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, and police found that Das was missing but no complaint was filed. A team led by ACP Umesh Barthwal found that locals had pointed out that Das lived with his wife in Trilokpuri and was missing.

“There was no missing complaint filed by the family. This created suspicion… and Poonam and Deepak were picked up. They gave conflicting versions to investigators. Later, they confessed to his murder…We found footage of them walking towards different areas,” said Goel.

Special Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Yadav said, “The accused revealed that she got married when was 13-14 years old. Her first husband left her and went to Delhi. She came here looking for him, but then moved in with a man named Kallu. The couple has three children, including Deepak. Kallu later died of liver failure. She then got married to Das in 2017. However, Das had not told her that he was previously married and has eight kids from first marriage. Deepak, meanwhile, complained that Das had ill intentions towards his wife, while Poonam claims he was harassing her daughter, who recently got divorced.”

Investigators said the accused allegedly used sleeping pills to spike Das’s drink on May 30.

“They stabbed him with the dagger and knife on his neck, chest and abdomen… his body was kept in the room for a day to get all the blood drained out. The accused arranged daggers and cut the body into various pieces, preserved them in a fridge and later kept them in plastic bags. They dumped those bags at Ramlila Ground and
near Ganda Nala, New Ashok Nagar. They again cleaned the room and fridge using phenyl” added Goel.