Missing woman cop found dead, husband arrested; body exhumed from Keonjhar

Bhubaneswar: Mystery surrounding the disappearance of 25-year-old woman traffic constable Subhamitra Sahoo ended on Wednesday with police revealing that her husband, a constable posted at the office of Bhubaneswar police commissioner, had killed her and disposed of her body in Keonjhar district.The body was exhumed from a forest area near Tarini temple in Ghatagaon in the presence of a magistrate. Sahoo’s husband, Deepak Kumar Rout (39) was subsequently taken into police custody. Rout’s relative has also been detained for allegedly assisting in the disposal of the body.Sahoo, who had joined the city police in 2018, went missing on Sept 6. Rout became the prime suspect as he was the last person seen with her. The couple, who got married in court in July 2024, used to live separately.“While examining Sahoo’s mobile, we discovered chats indicating discord between the couple. She took Rs 10 lakh from him to transform their court marriage into a social event and demanded more money, leading to arguments,” police commissioner S Dev Datta Singh said. In her messages, Sahoo further claimed she was under stress and contemplated fleeing to Mathura, Varanasi or Puri.Rout was picked up for questioning on Sept 8. A polygraph test was done on Sept 13 during which police uncovered the truth behind Sahoo’s disappearance.

“Initially, Rout maintained his innocence. He later confessed to having strangled her inside his car near her rented home in Surya Nagar on Sept 6. He kept the body in his car overnight, and the next morning drove to Keonjhar, where he disposed of the body in an abandoned trench near his relative’s home,” DCP Jagmohan Meena said, adding, “We have detained his relative for assisting in burying the body.”Police suspect financial dispute between the couple may have been the motive behind the murder. Police are also trying to find out if the murder was done to claim insurance payout. Rout’s first wife had died in a road accident in 2022 and he had received an insurance payout of Rs 1 crore. Sahoo, incidentally, was also insured for Rs 1 crore.