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

The post-mortem report blew the lid off their plot as it showed that the victim was 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 in 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 revealed that the victim died due to asphyxiation, he said.

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

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

Tensions between Kashyap and Ravita began after he found out about her 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 Kashyap and make it look like he died due to snakebite, the circle officer said.

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

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

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

Ravita and Amardeep have been taken into custody. Further legal proceedings in the case are underway, the officer said.

When contacted, Shresatha Pachori (33), a herpetologist working with Wildlife SOS, told PTI that a snake being found in a crime scene, ostensibly to confuse the investigators, is a first for him.

“The Meerut region is known for cobras, common kraits and to an extent, Russell’s vipers, who are part of the big four as we call it. The fourth, which is not found in Meerut, is saw-scaled cobra,” Pachori, who has been dealing with snakes for 10 years, said.

He added that snakes usually attack only when they feel threatened.

“It takes efforts to get a snake to bite sans reason, so anyone who left the snake around the body thinking that its bite will confuse the investigators would have succeeded only temporarily, because the post-mortem report would reveal the reason (of death). Even those who extract snake’s venom have to make special efforts to get the reptile to bite, so for a snake to bite a still body would take some effort and expert handling,” Pachori said. PTI COR KIS CDN RC