Meerut, Apr 17 (PTI) A man was killed allegedly by his wife and her lover who later placed a live venomous snake under his body to cover up the crime, police said on Thursday.

The post-mortem report blew the lid off their plot as it showed that the man had been strangled. The woman, Ravita (27), and her lover Amardeep (19), who was a friend of her husband, have been arrested, according to a police statement.

Circle Officer Abhishek Kumar Patel said the incident took place in Akbarpur Sadat village under the Behsuma police station area.

“Amit Kashyap (30), alias Mickey, was found dead at his home on Sunday morning. A venomous snake was found near his bed, leading to the assumption that he had died of a snakebite,” Patel told PTI.

However, the post-mortem report stated that he died due to asphyxiation, he said.

“Following the report, we initiated a detailed investigation into the case,” the officer said.

According to police sources, Amit married Ravita eight years ago and the couple had three children. Amit worked as a mason along with Amardeep, who eventually got involved in an illicit relationship with Ravita.

Tensions between Amit and Ravita began after he found out about his wife’s affair. There were frequent arguments between the two. Ravita told Amardeep about these arguments and he stopped working with her husband around five months ago, the sources said.

The duo told police that about a week ago, they decided to eliminate Amit and make it look like he died due to snakebite, Circle Officer Patel said.

On April 12, Amardeep bought a snake for Rs 1,000 from a snake charmer and hid it in a bag, he said.

Later that night, after Amit had fallen asleep, Ravita called Amardeep to her house and the two strangled her husband to death. Then they put the live snake under Amit’s body to make it look like he was bitten by the reptile while he was asleep, the officer added.

“The snake was trapped under the body and bit it several times, which led to the confusion during the preliminary investigation,” Patel said.

Ravita and Amardeep have been taken into custody. Further legal proceedings in the case are underway, he said. PTI COR KIS CDN DIV DIV