Gujarat: A video call between separated siblings leads police to father who murdered wife in 2022

On February 7, head constable Pradeepsinh Devendrasinh of the district police’s technical team, which had been tracking Khushi’s case, was intrigued after receiving a message from Vasad police station in Anand district about the injured boy found along the Expressway.

Pradeepsinh couldn’t ignore the fact that the boy had identified his father as “Uday”— the same name shared by Khushi for her father.

Although the two children — found more than two years apart with similar injuries — had stated different names for their mother, Pradeepsinh preferred to trust his “instinct” that the two children had “similar” eyes.

Siblings reunited

Kheda Superintendent of Police Rajesh Ghadiya said that since the case of the undetected murder of the woman — identified as Pooja alias Sairabanu — had been a top priority for the department, the police team acted swiftly to confirm Pradeepsinh’s doubt.

“A constable of the Kheda district police was sent to Vasad while Pradeepsinh stayed stationed at Matruchhaya orphanage of the District Child Protection Department in Nadiad. As the two constables connected the two children on video call, Khushi exclaimed, “Kanhaiya, ka karat ho?” (What are you doing, Kanhaiya) in a dialect of Hindi from Uttar Pradesh…” Ghadiya told The Indian Express.

It set the police team on two missions — tracking down “Uday” while also ensuring that the siblings were reunited after their loss.

Ghadiya said, “It was an overwhelming moment for the entire team of officers, who had been working on the case, when Khushi was able to identify Kanhaiya, who was about two-year-old when they were separated… We brought the boy to Nadiad and reunited the siblings and the sight was one that moved everyone”.

“We also proceeded to use our technical intelligence and a lot of groundwork that had already been done in the case to find the accused. We arrested him Thursday from Ahmedabad,” he said.

A local court has remanded Verma to seven days in police custody.

Ghadiya said, during the probe, the accused, Uday Raj Verma, a native of Pratapgadh in Uttar Pradesh, told the police that he allegedly suspected Pooja of having an extra marital affair and doubted that the two children were born from her lover.

“He has told us that due to his suspicious nature that his wife may have cheated him and borne children through other affairs, he allegedly decided to kill her and the two children. On that day (December 6, 2022), he brought the family by bus to the Expressway and got off midway near a bridge in Bhilodra, where he strangled his wife and threw off the daughter from a height and presumed that the two had died. He said although he had planned to kill the son too but changed his mind as he was too little.”

Ghadiya added that following the murder, Verma allegedly escaped to Uttar Pradesh and returned to Ahmedabad to work as a daily wage labourer last year and also began to cohabit with another woman, who Kanhaiya took for his mother.

The Superintendent of Police said: “The reason why the son mentioned a different name for the mother was because the accused got into a relationship with a woman after returning. He has told us that she pestered him to get rid of the child in order to have a fresh start… That is when he decided to finally kill the boy, using the same modus operandi.”

Pooja’s body and an injured Khushi had been found by the Nadiad rural police station from an isolated thicket along the National Expressway-1 connecting Ahmedabad to Vadodara on December 6, 2022. About 25 km away from the spot, Kanhaiyya was found on February 7, 2025, with fractured limbs and other injuries, thrown off from a height in a similar manner.

Ghadiya said, “For us, as a department, while we are happy we could detect the murder of the woman, what is even more satisfying is that the two siblings have found each other and are finally experiencing happiness in each other’s company. The District Collector and I checked on them this afternoon (Friday) and they are delighted to be with each other. We can only hope the best for the two children for their life ahead as the girl is also a brilliant student.”