Real life crime thriller: Married man and friends plot girlfriend's murder, burn her body, arrested

The accused and five of his acquaintances were arrested by the police after solving the murder mystery a year after the incident.

Ahmedabad:A married man along with his friends killed his girlfriend and burnt her body in Ahmedabad. Then, the accused himself informed the police that the woman had gone missing. All accused were nabbed following a thorough investigation a year later.

The prime accused, Suraj Bhuvaji and the victim, Dhara Kadiwar, lived Junagadh and knew each other since 2021. Their friendship turned into love and both started living together in a separate house. However, following frequent rifts between Dhara and Suraj the latter wanted to return to his wife and children. It was then that he sought help from his friends to get rid of Dhara.

A year back, a missing report of Dhara was lodged at the Paldi police station area by Suraj and his friend Meet Shah, another accused. They informed police that Dhara had left Junagadh in a car with them on June 19, 2022. The duo claimed that after reaching Ahmedabad, they had dropped Dhara at Meet's house and themselves stayed in a hotel. The accused further stated that the next day, Dhara left Meet's house with her belongings and since then was missing. While the complaint was being registered, Suraj received a WhatsApp message from Dhara's number saying that she was going away from his life forever. A month later, the woman's brother lodged a complaint stating that his sister had gone missing in Paldi and complained that she was with Suraj. Since then, Paldi police have been probing the case.

During investigation, a completely different story was revealed that was similar to any crime thriller. According to police, on June 19, when Dhara left Junagadh with Suraj and Meet, all three had dinner at Chotila and Dhara was taken to the nearby Vatavach village on the pretext of collecting the lawyer's fees. At around 11 pm, they reached the outskirts of the village. Dhara was sitting in the front seat while Sooraj was in the driver's seat and Meet was seated behind. After reaching the village, Suraj got down from the car to get money. Soon after which, Suraj's brother Yuvraj and his friend Gunjan Joshi came there and picked up a fight with Dhara. They threatened her to leave Suraj.

Taking advantage of the situation, Meet, who was sitting behind Dhara, strangled her to death with a dupatta. Suraj too joined in and executed the murder together. Dhara's body was taken to a deserted place, where Suraj's friend Mukesh Solanki, had already arranged petrol. All the accused including Suraj, Meet, Gunjan, Yuvraj and Mukesh brought dry wood and grass and put it on Dhara's body before setting it on fire.

After killing Dhara, Suraj and Meet left for Ahmedabad in the car while the others remained at the spot till the body was completely burnt. Later, they came to Ahmedabad in a different car. At Ahmedabad, Suraj and Meet asked Suraj's friend Sanjay Soheliya to come to Sanathal Chowkdi. There they dressed him in Dhara's clothes and made him sit inside the car. Thus, the CCTV of the area captured the presence of three people, including Dhara, inside the car. After which, Suraj came to Meet's house and informed his mother Monaben Shah about the incident.

They brought Dhara's mobile inside the car and switched it off. They then handed over phone to Gunjan Joshi, Yuvraj and Mukesh, who went with it to Mumbai in another car. After reaching Vasai, Gunjan Joshi WatsApped Suraj from Dhara's mobile. Suraj was then present at the Paldi police station. He showed this chat to the police and gained their confidence.

After the sequence of the events was revealed in the investigation, the police arrested all the accused involved in the incident and interrogated them. The accused accepted the crime and were booked under 302 (murder), 120B (conspiracy), 201 (conspiracy) and 201 (conspiracy).