Accused kills friend to be with victim’s wife:Dumps body in septic tank, takes her to Ahmedabad on pretext of search

Devri police in Sagar district have uncovered a shocking murder while investigating the disappearance of a young man. The person initially reported missing had in fact been murdered even before the missing complaint was filed. According to police, the accused killed his friend because he wanted to be with the friend’s wife. After committing the crime, he allegedly dumped the body in a septic tank. He then manipulated the victim’s wife and took her to Ahmedabad, where they began living together. Throughout this time, he ensured that she did not suspect her husband had been murdered. However, matters took a dramatic turn when the woman returned home following a dispute with the accused in Ahmedabad. Enraged, he allegedly sent a message to her brother-in-law on Instagram stating that “we committed a murder”. He also shared photos and videos of himself with the victim’s wife. Investigators revealed that this single message proved crucial in tracing the accused. Speaking to Dainik Bhaskar, the investigating officer detailed how the case unfolded. Sequence of events Prince Valmiki (22), son of Rajesh Valmiki and a resident of Laxmi Nagar Baheria in Sagar, had a love marriage in 2023. After marriage, he found work in Devri and began living there with his wife. On 20 August 2025, Prince suddenly went missing. When he failed to return home for two days, his wife approached Devri police and filed a missing person complaint. She told officers that Prince had left home at around 7 pm on 20 August and had not been seen since. Police registered a case and launched a search. During the investigation, they spoke with Prince’s family members, who expressed suspicion towards Shoaib, son of Nawaz Khan (23), a resident of Gandhi Ward in Devri. Shoaib was reportedly the wife’s former lover. It also emerged that the wife and the accused had previously made social media reels together, adding another dimension to the investigation. Shoaib found hiding at relative’s house in Kareli Based on suspicion, police formed a team to search for Shoaib Khan. After extensive searching, the accused’s location was found in Kareli of Narsinghpur district. A police team reached Kareli and activated informers. Here police learned about Shoaib’s relatives. It was also discovered that Shoaib had met with a tractor accident a few days ago, in which he was severely injured, due to which he had to be hospitalized. When Shoaib got wind that the police were looking for him, he got discharged from the hospital and disappeared. After leaving, he went and hid at a relative’s house in a village near Kareli. Based on informants’ tips, police raided the relative’s house and caught him. Police were also puzzled after hearing the accused’s story During interrogation, police realized that accused Shoaib is very cunning. He misled the police significantly. In initial questioning, he said that he received a call from deceased Prince’s wife who had called him. When he reached the spot, Prince was lying dead there. Near the body, Prince’s wife, father, brother-in-law and some other people were standing. Blood was flowing from Prince’s head. Those people asked to dispose of Prince’s body. At their request, Prince’s wife and I hid the body in a garbage heap. We kept watch for 6 to 7 days. When the body decomposed and only bones remained, we threw them in the drain. Police listened to and understood his story, which was quite shocking. The question arose in police’s mind about how a body could completely decompose in 6 to 7 days. According to the accused, the body had turned into a skeleton in 7 days. Police were suspicious of his statements. When pressured, the accused broke down and revealed the murder story Sensing the accused’s cunning, the police interrogated him strictly. At this, he broke down. He revealed the truth about the murder. He said that on August 20, 2025, he was with Prince Valmiki. During the day, they bought liquor from a shop near Sahajpur intersection and drank together in private. At night, both reached the school ground near the house in Gandhi Ward. Here, when he got the opportunity, he killed Prince by hitting him on the head with a stone. After the murder, he threw the body in a nearby septic tank. He covered it with garbage and soil. To prevent identification, he removed his ring and threw it in the Jhunjhunu river. He kept monitoring the body daily. When no one talked about it for a few days, he went to Ahmedabad for work. On the night of February 9, police reached the school ground based on the accused’s identification. They excavated the nearby septic tank, where human skeletal remains were recovered. Police seized a human skull and bones from the spot and brought them to the police station. He wanted to keep Prince’s wife with him, that’s why he killed him During interrogation, the accused revealed the motive for murder to the police. He said he had an affair with Prince’s wife. However, she later married Prince and settled down with him. He didn’t like this move by his girlfriend. He was quite angry about this. He wanted to get his girlfriend back. For this, it was necessary to remove Prince from the way. When he got the opportunity, he killed Prince. Everything happened as planned. When Prince went missing, he got close to his girlfriend again. Following his words, she agreed to go with him to Gujarat. She stayed with him in Ahmedabad for about a month. She returned after a dispute, approached police in search of husband While living in Gujarat, the accused Shoaib and his girlfriend had a dispute. The dispute escalated to physical violence. In anger, the girlfriend went to the police station and filed a complaint against the accused. Not only that, she left Shoaib and returned to Dewri. After coming to Dewri, she went to the police station and asked for information about her missing husband Prince. However, the police did not have any concrete evidence at that time. Police said they would investigate. Suspicion arose when message sent to Prince’s brother on Instagram When his girlfriend left him and returned from Ahmedabad, Shoaib became furious. He wanted to take revenge on her, so he sent some messages to Prince’s brother and family members on Instagram. In the message he wrote – Prince has been murdered. He also posted some photos and videos with the deceased’s wife on his Instagram account. This message raised suspicion in the family and they told the police about Shoaib. Police got this lead and the murder case was solved. Skeletal remains found in septic tank According to police – the septic tank was excavated, where male skeletal remains were found. Skull, bones and other remains were found from the spot. FSL team from Sagar was called when male skeletal remains were discovered. The team has collected evidence from the crime scene. The human skeletal remains have been sent for examination. In preliminary investigation, they believe the skeleton belongs to missing Prince Valmiki. DNA test is being conducted for official identification. Residents noticed foul smell but ignored it Police also said that after the murder, the body was thrown into a dilapidated septic tank built in an empty plot in the residential area. Garbage and filth remain at that place. A few days after the incident, residents also noticed a foul smell but they ignored it. Residents believed that some animal must have died, that’s why there was a foul smell. Gradually the foul smell disappeared and the mystery of the murder was buried in a way. Accused went to Gujarat 20 days after murder After the murder, accused Shoaib stayed in Dewari for a few days. During this time, he kept meeting the deceased’s wife and offered to help her search for her husband. After about 20 days, when he was about to go to Gujarat, he showed sympathy to the deceased’s wife and took her along with him by assuring to help find her husband. They stayed together there for about a month. Meanwhile, a dispute arose between the two. There was violence in the dispute. Upset by this, the deceased’s wife returned to Devri. Police investigation so far has not revealed any role of the deceased’s wife in the murder case. However, the police will question her about the case. Along with this, mobile call details and other evidence are being examined. Further investigation ongoing in the case ASP Lokesh Sinha said that based on evidence received from social media, the suspect was taken into custody and interrogated, which revealed the murder case. The accused had killed the missing youth and buried the body in a septic tank. The accused and the deceased’s wife were having an affair. This became the reason for the incident. On the identification of the accused, skeletal remains have been seized from the septic tank, which are being sent for DNA testing. A murder case has been registered against the accused and investigation is ongoing.