Car driver, woman held for killing estranged husband for gain

: A woman allegedly got her estranged husband killed and projected the death to have been caused in a road accident so she could secure insurance in his name and job benefits, police said on Monday.

K Padma (32) decided to get rid of her husband Keshya Naik (43), a postal employee, by offering Rs 10 lakh to S Vinod, who worked as part-time car driver with her husband, the police said.

She had filed a harassment case against him and the trial was on. They were married for 20 years, they said.

In the meantime, Naik married another woman and Padma bore a grudge against him. Also, she conspired to kill him to secure the insurance amount in his name and also job benefits following his death, the police said.

On the intervening night of September 1 and 2, Vinod took Naik in a car, got him heavily drunk and later strangulated him in the vehicle, they said.

Then Vinod rammed the vehicle into an high-tension electricity post and made it look like a fatal road accident, the police said