Wife, lover held for Ranchi man's murder; victim's head recovered after 17 days

Ranchi, Jul 7 (PTI) A woman and her lover have been arrested for allegedly killing her husband in Jharkhand's Ranchi district, with the police recovering the victim’s head 17 days after his torso was found, an officer said on Tuesday. Sanjay Lohra, a resident of Manjhidih village in the Tamar police station area, was allegedly murdered as his wife wanted to marry her lover, police said. Lohra's partially burnt headless torso was recovered from the Tetartanr forest area in the Bundu police station area on June 19, they said. Acting on information provided by the accused during interrogation, police said they recovered his head from the Rani forest near Sundardih village in the Tamar police station area, where it had allegedly been buried. Both the accused were detained for questioning on Monday and subsequently arrested. "During interrogation, the woman disclosed that she was in an extramarital relationship with another man for the last two years and wanted to marry him. The husband came to know about this, due to which she allegedly conspired to kill him by paying money to her lover and his two other associates,” Ranchi Rural SP Gaurav Goswami told reporters. On June 18, the accused allegedly beat Lohra to death with sticks, and to destroy evidence and conceal identity, they transported the body in a car and dumped it in the Mahadevtand forest area, the officer said. Goswami said they then severed the head from the torso with a sharp weapon, poured petrol on the body and set it on fire. "As a means of identification, the name 'Sanjoy Raj @ Pal' was tattooed on the right wrist of the victim. No complaint for a missing person was filed by any family member of Lohra. A case was registered by the Bundu Police on June 18," he said. Further investigation in the case is underway. PTI RPS RBT