‘Drishyam’-style murder plot: Bombay HC rejects soldier’s bail in girlfriend’s killing

Nagpur: A switched-off cell phone, a body buried in a pit and cemented, and a digital evidence trail prompted Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court to reject the bail plea of an Army personnel accused of allegedly murdering his girlfriend in what police had described as a “well-planned and Drishyam-style” crime.Refusing relief to the armyman in the murder of a 32-year-old woman, Justice MM Nerlikar on Monday observed the prosecution led by Neeraj Jawade, presented “clinching circumstances” sufficient to prima facie connect the accused to the crime at the bail stage.The court noted the case rested entirely on circumstantial evidence, but the chain of events appeared complete. “A man may lie, but circumstances never lie,” Justice Nerlikar observed while rejecting the bail plea of the accused, also a Nagpur resident.According to the prosecution, the woman left home on Aug 28, 2024, telling family members she was visiting a friend. After she failed to return, her brother lodged a missing complaint at Beltarodi police station. Three weeks later, an FIR for kidnapping was registered against unknown persons.During investigation, police claimed she was in a relationship with the petitioner, who was serving in the Army and posted at Nagaland at the time of murder.

Investigators alleged he travelled secretly to Nagpur without informing his wife and devised a plan to avoid police tracking by leaving his mobile phone at home, while carrying his mother’s handset.The court relied heavily on call detail records and the statement of the deceased’s friend, who told investigators the woman left home around 9.28 pm, saying she was on her way to meet the armyman. Later that night, when she called on the armyman’s phone, his mother picked the call and said he wasn’t at home and moments later claimed he was asleep.“The armyman had left his cell phone at home and carried his mother’s handset with an intention to commit murder and skirt surveillance,” the court observed.Investigators further alleged that after the murder, the accused tossed the woman’s mobile phone into a truck moving towards Hyderabad to mislead police, as shown in the Ajay Devgan-starrer — Drishyam. The phone was later recovered from the truck driver in Telangana.Police also claimed after the arrest, the armyman led investigators to an isolated location, where the woman’s decomposed body was buried. Police also recovered a stone allegedly used in the murder, which matched medical findings indicating fatal head injuries.Beltarodi police alleged the accused buried his girlfriend’s body in a pit, covered it with stones and sealed the spot with cement allegedly stolen from a nearby construction site. During interrogation, he told police he was divorced and was in a relationship with several women, including the Nagpur girl.