Drowning plot, 100 calls, How husband survived wife's murder bid in Gujarat

A chilling murder conspiracy in Gujarat’s Vadodara has come tolight after a man miraculously survived an attempt on his life,allegedly orchestrated by his own wife and her lover. Police havearrested six accused, including the wife, in connection with thecase.

The incident tookplace in the Chhani area, where Girish Patel, a paan parlour owner,was abducted on April 15 while returning home. According to police,he was forcibly taken into a car on the Chhani-Sokhda Road by a groupof men, threatened with a knife, and driven around multiple locationsbefore being thrown into a canal near Sojitra.

Believing him to bedead, the attackers fled the scene. However, in a remarkable turn ofevents, Girish managed to cling to a structure inside the canal andstruggled for nearly three hours before emerging alive the nextmorning.

Initialinvestigations led to the arrest of five suspects within days. As theprobe deepened, police uncovered a larger conspiracy involvingGirish’s wife, Falguni Patel. Investigators revealed that she hadbeen in a relationship with Kaushik Sharma, a salon owner from Kheda,and the two allegedly plotted to eliminate Girish, whom they saw asan obstacle.

Police said KaushikSharma hired a contract killer, Narendra alias Nikul Goswami, for Rs35,000 to carry out the murder. Call records showed frequentcommunication between Falguni and Kaushik, with over 100 callsexchanged in just two days prior to the incident. Another accused,Rudra Rawal, was allegedly tasked with surveillance.

During theabduction, the assailants also robbed Girish of his ATM card andcash, though they refrained from using the card to avoid CCTVidentification.

Based on technicalsurveillance and interrogation, police arrested Kaushik Sharma,Jitendra Baria, Umang Prajapati, Umang Bhoi, and Prithvi Bhoi, alllinked to Kheda. Falguni Patel was later identified as the mastermindand taken into custody. All six accused have been sent to judicialcustody as further investigations continue.

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