‘Bahut bhaichara tha’: A UP village in shock as twin murders shatter harmony
On Wednesday, the bodies of Kajal and Arman were found buried next to a riverbank near Umri, allegedly killed by her brothers on discovering their relationship.
A few hundred metres separated the family homes of Kajal Saini, 19, and Mohd Arman, 27. In Umri, a mixed-population village in Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad, which is almost equal parts Saini and Muslim and has no history of communal tension, it was easy to mistake that as a sign of proximity.
“In 50 years, our two communities have never had a major fight… Daawat bhi hum saath me khaate hain… bahut bhaichara tha. Pata nahin gaon ko kiski nazar lag gayi (We would share our feasts… there was such brotherhood. God knows whose evil eye has brought us this day),” says a middle-aged man belonging to the Saini community.
Police, who have arrested Kajal’s siblings Rajaram, Satish, and Rinku Saini for the murders, say the couple were beaten to death early on Monday.
The two-storey house where Kajal and Arman were attacked lies desolate Thursday. Her brothers, who work as labourers, live here; she was spending the night with them that day. Their parents live some distance away, nearer the fields.
Arman’s brother Farman Ali, a year older, says Arman came back from Saudi Arabia only four months ago. “He was working at a KFC outlet there. He had started making furniture here.” A lot of men in the area are in the furniture business.
Kajal, who had studied up to class 12, taught children at a school in the village.
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SSP Moradabad, Satpal Antil said in a statement that the couple had been in a relationship for nearly two years. If they were, say the villagers, they kept it well hidden.
According to police, on Sunday night, Arman came to meet Kajal at her brothers’ house. He was with her when one of her brothers reportedly spotted him. He alerted the others, and the three allegedly forced their way into Kajal’s room and started beating the two of them.
One of the brothers allegedly fetched a spade and hit Arman repeatedly, until he fell unconscious in a pool of blood. Kajal tried to run out and raise an alarm, police said, but the brothers allegedly caught her and struck her with the spade too, killing her.
Later, the three allegedly stuffed Kajal and Arman’s bodies in gunny bags, and carried them to the bank of the river Gagan and buried them near a temple.
The SSP said that police launched an inquiry when Arman’s family contacted them on Tuesday, informing them that he was missing since Sunday night. Kajal’s family also lodged a missing person’s report the same day.
While Arman’s family alerted police about his relationship with Kajal, her family tried to “mislead” them, suggesting that Arman had abducted her and would marry her after conversion, the officer said.
A sole policeman guards Arman’s house, which is big and accommodates a large joint family. Farman, who drives a taxi for a living, says they came to know of the relationship between Kajal and Arman only recently. The families had cordial relations and celebrated all festive occasions together. But, Farman admits, when they could not find Arman on January 20, they feared the worst. “We immediately filed a missing complaint… But I could have never imagined (such an end).”
Nirbhay Thakur is a Senior Correspondent with The Indian Express who primarily covers district courts in Delhi and has reported on the trials of many high-profile cases since 2023.
Professional Background
Education: Nirbhay is an economics graduate from Delhi University.
Beats: His reporting spans the trial courts, and he occasionally interviews ambassadors and has a keen interest in doing data stories.
Specializations: He has a specific interest in data stories related to courts.
Core Strength: Nirbhay is known for tracking long-running legal sagas and providing meticulous updates on high-profile criminal trials.
Recent notable articles
In 2025, he has written long form articles and two investigations. Along with breaking many court stories, he has also done various exclusive stories.
1) A long form on Surender Koli, accused in the Nithari serial killings of 2006. He was acquitted after spending 2 decades in jail. was a branded man. Deemed the “cannibal" who allegedly lured children to his employer’s house in Noida, murdered them, and “ate their flesh” – his actions cited were cited as evidence of human depravity at its worst. However, the SC acquitted him finding various lapses in the investigation. The Indian Express spoke to his lawyers and traced the 2 decades journey.
2) For decades, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been at the forefront of the Government’s national rankings, placed at No. 2 over the past two years alone. It has also been the crucible of campus activism, its protests often spilling into national debates, its student leaders going on to become the faces and voices of political parties of all hues and thoughts. The Indian Express looked at all court cases spanning over two decades and did an investigation.
3) Investigation on the 700 Delhi riots cases. The Indian Express found that in 17 of 93 acquittals (which amounted to 85% of the decided cases) in Delhi riots cases, courts red-flag ‘fabricated’ evidence and pulled up the police.
Signature Style
Nirbhay’s writing is characterized by its procedural depth. He excels at summarizing 400-page chargesheets and complex court orders into digestible news for the general public.
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