A 25-year-old man was on Sunday arrested after his wife’s body was found chopped into pieces in Jharkhand’s Sahibganj district, police said, adding that 18 body parts of the victim have been recovered so far. The victim has been identified as 22-year-old Rabika Pahadin, belonging to a primitive tribal community and the second wife of arrested accused Dildar Ansari (25), said Sahibganj superintendent of police (SP) Anuranjan Kispotta.
So far, 18 body parts have been recovered from different locations till Sunday evening, said Dumka range deputy inspector general Sudarshan Mandal.
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“During investigation, it has come to light that the family of Dildar Ansari was not happy with his second marriage,” said Mandal. “There was a dispute in the family and prima facie that seems to be the reason behind the murder, which was done on the intervening night of December 16 and 17.”
While the woman lived in Belatola locality in Boria area, her body parts were recovered from adjoining Momintola, said senior police officers. “The accused committed the crime with his family members, who were yet to be arrested,” the SP told reporters.
Local residents spotted the victim’s body parts, which were being dragged by dogs near an anganwadi centre in Momintola area under Boria police station of the district, and the police were subsequently informed about the matter. Police said local residents were in shock after the case, similar to the Shraddha Walkar murder in Delhi, came to light.
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The police began an investigation after a missing complaint was lodged by the man’s family two days ago, claiming that the woman had been missing for the past few days, said the SP.
“While several body parts were recovered till Sunday late evening, her head and some other body parts are still missing,” said the SP. “Dildar Ansari has identified the body.”
Police’s dog squads and probe teams are trying to recover the missing body parts, the recovered pieces have been kept at the local community health centre for DNA sampling, the SP added.
Senior police officers also said the chopped body parts were dumped at different locations to destroy evidence. “Ansari himself was following up the case and had even come to Borio police station on Saturday to check about the status of investigation in the missing complaint against the woman,” an officer said, requesting anonymity. Ansari married the woman around 10 days back, the officer added.
Sahibganj sub-divisional police officer Rajendra Kumar Dubey said some of the body parts of the victim were found in an abandoned house in the district. “After an initial probe, Ansari was arrested in connection with the murder,” Dubey said, without divulging further details.
Senior police officers are in the locality looking into the matter, he added.
(With PTI inputs)