Police in Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh, cracked the sensational murder of a woman named Pinki within just 48 hours, arresting three people, including a woman, in connection with the killing that took place in Panchampurva village under the Dehat Kotwali police station area. Investigators also recovered the spade used to kill her. The probe revealed that an illicit relationship and a love triangle lay behind the brutal murder, and the swift breakthrough calmed the alarm the killing had triggered across the district.
An affair with two women that spiralled out of control
According to police, the main accused, Shiv Kumar Shukla, hails from Maiglaganj in Lakhimpur Kheri district and was living as a tenant in Panchampurva at the house of Jitu Gupta. While staying there, Shiv Kumar got entangled in illicit relationships with two women in the neighbourhood, Pinki and another woman named Laxmi. When Laxmi learned that Shiv Kumar was also involved with Pinki, she could not accept it and began pressuring him to keep her as his wife and cut off ties with Pinki.
A demand to be treated as his wife turned into a murder plot
When Shiv Kumar resisted Laxmi's demand, she lost her patience and hatched a plan to eliminate Pinki altogether. Laxmi became an equal partner in the conspiracy, working out the plan together with her lover, Shiv Kumar Shukla. Shiv Kumar then brought in another associate, Dilip, to help carry out the killing. On the night of July 3, all three reached Pinki's house as planned. Shiv Kumar called out to Pinki, who opened the door of her room and then went back to bed to sleep, unaware that her life was about to end within minutes.
Struck with a spade, then the killer himself alerted police
As soon as Pinki fell asleep, Shiv Kumar Shukla, Laxmi and Dilip together struck her repeatedly on the head with a spade kept inside the house, killing her on the spot in a brutal attack. In a striking twist, it was Shiv Kumar Shukla himself who first informed the police about the murder, apparently in an attempt to appear innocent.
They even carried off the TV and gas stove to stage a robbery
After the killing, the three accused tried to make the murder look like it had happened during a robbery. To do this, they carried away the television set and the gas stove from Pinki's house. During questioning, the accused admitted that they had first carried out the murder in a calculated manner and only afterwards plotted the theft, so that police and the neighbourhood would believe Pinki had been killed while resisting a robbery.
CCTV footage and informers led police to the accused
Given the seriousness of the case, the Superintendent of Police ordered a special team to be formed. The team began searching for the accused based on surveillance, CCTV footage and information from informers. Using technical evidence and call detail records, police first caught Shiv Kumar Shukla. Based on his disclosures, his girlfriend Laxmi and his associate Dilip were also arrested. The spade used in the murder was recovered on the accused's disclosure as well.
All three sent to jail, family relieved by swift police action
ASP Alok Singh said that all three accused have been produced in court and sent to jail, and that further investigation into the case is ongoing. By exposing this murder rooted in illicit relationships, police quickly calmed the sense of shock that had spread across the district. Pinki's family members expressed satisfaction with the swift action taken by the police.
