A Ranchi couple has been arrested for the murder of a man, allegedly stemming from an illicit affair and subsequent cover-up attempt, according to police reports.
Police arrested three persons, including a couple, for allegedly killing a man, whose body was recovered in Ranchi district, officials said on Wednesday.
The accused have been identified as Shivnath Kumar Singh (33), his wife Angita Devi (28), residents of Hahe under Angara police station in Ranchi, and Sahil Raja (19) of Lohardaga district.
The deceased has been identified as Kamlesh Singh, originally from Bihar's Nawada district, but was residing at a relative's house here. His body was recovered on May 3 from Manki Dipa alongside the ring road within the Tatisilway police station limits, they said.
Ranchi Rural SP, Gaurav Goswami, said, "We arrested three, including the couple, on Tuesday. The victim was murdered last week. Angita planned the entire conspiracy. She had developed an illicit relationship with Kamlesh. Meanwhile, the victim got married, and over this issue, Angita hatched the conspiracy."
Angita hid the illicit relationship and told her husband that the victim had frequently tried to molest her. As part of the conspiracy, they called Kamlesh to their house and drugged him; Shivnath then strangled him to death. During interrogation, the accused couple confessed to the crime, Goswami said.
Thereafter, they attempted to make the murder look like a road accident. They first dumped the victim's body near Ring Road and later deliberately ran a truck's front wheel over it. Sahil, the truck's co-driver, helped them dispose of the body, the SP said.
The police seized the truck, which ran over the victim's body, a scooty and three mobile phones from their possession. All three were forwarded to judicial custody on Wednesday, police said.