Mystery of unidentified body solved: Woman held in ‘blind' murder case after one year

Hindustan Times

a day ago

For more than a year, a decomposing body found in a Haryana drain had no identity. The man's death had been filed as an unidentified murder case that made no progress—until investigators traced his mobile phone signal to Sonepat. Mystery of unidentified body solved: Woman held in 'blind' murder case after one year
The Delhi Police announced this week they have solved the murder of Pritam Prakash, a proclaimed offender whose disappearance in July 2024 was allegedly orchestrated by his wife and her lover, according to officials.
The breakthrough came during a routine digital sweep of known offenders, when investigators detected Prakash's phone pinging from Sonepat — more than a year after he had been reported missing following a domestic dispute.
The conspiracy
Soniya (single name) had married Prakash when she was 16. By 2023, after three children and what she told police were years of abuse, the 33-year-old woman met Rohit, a 28-year-old cab driver from Sonepat, on social media.
Prakash had more than 10 criminal cases against him, including robbery, assault and possession of weapons. Rohit too had a criminal record involving murder and illegal arms possession.
Deputy commissioner of police (Crime) Harsh Indora said Soniya had initially offered Rohit ₹6 lakh to kill her husband, but he declined, saying he would need help. The plan stalled when Rohit went underground to avoid charges in a separate case.
The murder plan was finalised during her visit to her sister's house in Gannaur in early July 2024, a police official said, asking not to be named. When Prakash visited on July 5, an argument occurred, the official added.
According to investigators, Soniya then approached her sister's brother-in-law, an unemployed man with a criminal background.
'During interrogation, she claimed she had endured years of abuse. She offered the brother-in-law ₹1 lakh for the killing, and he agreed to do it for ₹50,000,' an investigator said.
Police said Prakash was convinced to stay overnight at the house. While Soniya slept on the terrace, the brother-in-law allegedly killed him in a room downstairs.
He sent photographs and video of the corpse to Soniya via Instagram, which he later deleted, according to investigators. The body was dumped in a drain near Agwanpur village.
The cover-up
On July 10, police in Gannaur recovered the unidentified body and filed a murder case. Ten days later, Soniya filed a missing person's report at Alipur police station, claiming her husband had left after a domestic dispute.
After the murder, she sold Prakash's auto-rickshaw for ₹4.5 lakh, using part of the money to pay debts and giving some to Rohit, police said.
'While she had instructed Rohit to destroy Prakash's phone, he continued using it. During a digital sweep, we detected the device pinging from Sonepat,' Indora said.
The arrests
Rohit was traced and arrested first. After initial denials, he confessed to the affair and detailed the murder plot, naming Soniya as its architect, police said. When confronted with evidence, she confessed.
Police are now preparing to formally link the woman's brother-in-law, who is currently in a Haryana jail for a separate theft case, to the murder. DNA samples preserved during the autopsy are being matched to confirm the victim's identity.
Investigators also discovered that Rohit had married another woman in April this year.
'This was a blind case with no identity, no witnesses, and no clear trail,' said Indora. 'It demonstrates that even the most carefully constructed lies can collapse—often with the help of a single signal from a mobile phone.'