Couple's murder turns out to be honour killing; three held

Bhind (MP), Aug 18: The murder of a woman and her male friend here has turned out to be a case of honour killing executed by the woman's brother, police said on Monday.

The woman's elder brother, Pramod (28), and two others were arrested in connection with the crime yesterday, a police officer said. Pooja Sharma (21), a resident of Ashok Nagar area, was killed on June 23 following which Pramod filed a report with the police alleging that she was shot dead by her friend Rahul Ojha (22) and his brother Vipin Ojha over a property dispute, Bhind SP Dr Ashish told reporters yesterday.

However, suspecting Pramod's theory, police carried out an investigation which revealed that he was hiding something, he said. During questioning, Pramod revealed that he was not happy with the relationship between Pooja and Rahul, a resident of Mehgaon town, and therefore hatched a conspiracy with two others to eliminate them.

As per the plan, the trio first strangled Rahul by calling him at a secluded place and later disposed his body in Muradganj canal of Uttar Pradesh's Auraiya district on June 21, the SP said. On June 23, Pramod's two associates - Shivanand and Bunty Sharma - shot Pooja dead at her residence.

Pramod paid them Rs 1.5 lakh for killing his sister, the SP said. Rahul's clothes and a ring were seized from the possession of the trio, he said. Following Pramod's confession, the three accused were arrested yesterday, he said.

Rahul body's is yet to be traced and Chambal range Inspector General D C Sagar has announced a reward of Rs 15,000 to anyone providing concrete information leading to the recovery of the body.

PTI