UP man beheads wife, chops up body parts and dumps them in river; arrested

Balrampur: A man was held here on Wednesday for allegedly beheading his wife, and dismembering her body with a cleaver and an electric saw, which he dumped in different places to evade arrest, police said.

The head was allegedly thrown into Saryu river, while other body parts were thrown into the bushes in Ajab Nagar village, police said as it announced the arrest of Shankar Dayal Gupta.

Gupta allegedly murdered her wife Neetu Pandey after an argument over some financial matter on July 30, they said, adding that it was a blind case and they had to examine around 500 missing persons' cases from nearby districts and over 200 CCTV footage to get to the culprit.

Police said they have also recovered the cleaver and electric saw used to dismember the body.

"Shankar Dayal Gupta (45), a resident of Rani Bazaar, frequently quarrelled with his wife, Gudia Pandey, also known as Neetu Pandey (41), over financial matters. On July 30, a dispute over money led Gupta to murder Neetu with a cleaver on August 1. Gupta then threw Neetu's severed head and hands into the Saryu river in Ayodhya on August 3," Superintendent of Police Vikas Kumar said on Wednesday.

To dismember the remaining body parts, Gupta allegedly bought a metal saw and an electric saw from the market, the SP said.

"He then cut the body into several pieces, placed them in two bags, and disposed them in bushes near Ajab Nagar village on August 6 before returning to Gonda. The next day, he threw the remaining body parts into the Saryu river from the new bridge in Ayodhya," Kumar added.

He said the police investigated around 500 missing persons cases across 15 districts and examined CCTV footage from approximately 300 cameras as it launched a probe into the blind murder case. Footage from a CCTV camera at the Agrahwa intersection showed a suspicious person carrying a white bag on a motorcycle on August 6. The motorcycle's number was traced to Gupta, he said.

When the police checked, Gupta's house was found locked and neighbours said a foul smell coming from inside, according to the SP.

"Using mobile surveillance, the police traced Shankar Dayal Gupta in Lucknow. The cleaver used in the murder, the electronic cutting machine, Neetu's mobile phone, the metal saw have been recovered, and the motorcycle used to transport the body parts has been impounded," he said.

Kumar said to hide his crime, the accused allegedly watched Bollywood movies on his phone and cut Neetu's body into many pieces and threw them at different places.

He said further legal proceedings in the case are underway and the matter will be sent to fast track court.