Woman, her paramour held for killing her husband

A 36-year-old woman and her paramour have been arrested for allegedly killing her husband at their residence in Navghar area in the district, police said on Wednesday.

The duo killed the victim, Pramod Patankar (43), by strangulating him after making him drink tea mixed with as many as 20 sleeping pills, police said.

The accused were identified as Deepti and her paramour Samadhan Pashankar (40), who hails from Pune, police said, adding that they were arrested on Tuesday for the incident that took place last month.

"A few years back, the victim had come to know about the illicit relationship between his wife and Samadhan, who is her close relative. Ever since, the relationship between the couple had soured," Ram Balsingh, senior inspector of Navghar police station said.

In the past, the woman and her lover had tried to kill Pramod two times by mixing sleeping pills in tea served to him, he said.

"However, this time they succeeded in their plan. On July 15, the woman prepared tea by mixing 20 sleeping pills in it and offered it to her husband. As he fell unconscious after consuming it, she called Samadhan to their place. He came to their flat and strangulated Pramod to death," the inspector added.

Initially, police had registered a case of accidental death in this connection. However, investigation confirmed that it was a case of murder, he added.

The probe revealed the role of the victim's wife and her paramour and they were arrested on Tuesday, police said.

According to police, while the victim worked with a state-run insurance company in Mumbai, his wife was a clerk in a school. They have a nine-year-old daughter.

Navghar police have registered a case under IPC sections 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender), 328 (causing hurt by means of poison, etc).