Gujarat Forest Officer Kills Wife, 2 Children, Buries Them In Pit Behind Official Residence

Last Updated:November 18, 2025, 10:40 IST

Police in Gujarat have arrested forest officer for allegedly murdering his wife and two children and burying their bodies behind his official residence in Bhavnagar.

A representative photo of the Gujarat Police (PTI)

A Gujarat forest officer has been arrested for allegedly murdering his wife and two children and burying their bodies in a pit behind his official residence in Bhavnagar.

Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) Shailesh Khambhla, 39, was taken into custody after he confessed to smothering his wife, Nayana (42), their 13-year-old daughter, and nine-year-old son, and disposing of the bodies in a six-foot-deep trench dug behind his quarters in the Forest Colony on Talaja Road.

News agency PTI quoted the police as saying that Khambhla had initially reported his family missing on November 5, claiming that his wife had left the house with the children while he was on duty.

However, inconsistencies in his account and what officers described as his “strange behaviour" soon made him the prime suspect.

“Khambhla showed a lack of concern for his missing wife and children during the investigation, and discrepancies were found in his statement," Superintendent of Police Nitesh Pandey said at a press conference.

Khambhla told police the colony’s security guard had seen the trio leaving in an autorickshaw, a claim the guard flatly denied.

Investigators also found he had been frequently communicating with a junior officer, Range Forest Officer (RFO) Girish Vania, before the alleged disappearance.

Pandey said Vania revealed that Khambhla had asked him on November 2 to arrange for an excavator to dig two pits behind his residence, telling him the trenches were needed to clear garbage.

Following the murders, on November 6, a day after filing the missing persons complaint, Khambhla again contacted Vania and instructed him to send a dumper truck to fill the pits, claiming “a nilgai had fallen into a pit."

Acting on these leads, police visited the site with Vania and forensic experts on November 16 and exhumed the three bodies.

“It was a pre-planned murder as he first dug pits by misguiding his staff and then killed his wife and two children by smothering them using a pillow. He then dumped the bodies in pits to hide his crime," Pandey said.

Nayana and the children, who lived with Khambhla’s parents in Surat, had travelled to Bhavnagar earlier this month for Diwali.

Police said the couple had recurring disputes over her wish to live with her husband in Bhavnagar, a demand he resisted.

“Frequent quarrels over this issue eventually ended up in the murder," the SP added.

Vani Mehrotra

Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks.

Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks.

News india Gujarat Forest Officer Kills Wife, 2 Children, Buries Them In Pit Behind Official Residence

Read More