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JAIPUR: What began as a routine post-dinner walk ended in a meticulously planned murder, executed barely three months after a young couple’s marriage. On the night of January 30, 27-year-old Ashish Kumar stepped out of his home in Rajasthan’s Sri Ganganagar with his wife, Anjali, for their usual evening walk.
It was a habit the couple followed regularly. Ashish never returned. As the two walked along a deserted stretch near their village, Anjali allegedly sent a pre-arranged signal. Hidden in nearby bushes were her long-time boyfriend Sanjay and his two friends, Rohit and Siddharth. Moments later, the three men allegedly ambushed Ashish, raining blows with sticks. When he failed to lose consciousness immediately, they strangled him with a muffler, ensuring he was dead, police said. To make the murder look like a robbery gone wrong, Anjali allegedly handed over Ashish’s mobile phone and her earrings to the attackers. She then lay near the spot, pretending to be unconscious. Police rushed the couple to the Rawla Community Health Centre after receiving information around 9 pm, but doctors declared Ashish dead on arrival.
A marriage she never wanted
Investigators later uncovered that Anjali had been in a relationship with Sanjay for six to seven years, a fact known to her family.
Despite this, she was married to Ashish in an arranged match on October 30 last year. Police said she remained unhappy after the wedding and wanted to pursue an MA degree in Sri Ganganagar, allegedly to stay close to Sanjay. Her husband opposed the idea, which deepened the resentment. According to investigators, Anjali shared her frustrations with Sanjay, and 16 days before the murder, the two met at her parental home in Sadulshahar, where they allegedly finalised the plan to kill Ashish.
Clues that broke the act
Initially treated as a robbery and murder, the case began to unravel during questioning. Call detail records, inconsistencies in Anjali’s version, and the post-mortem report raised red flags. Ashish, police noted, had joined work as a private school teacher just three days before his death. All four accused were arrested on Tuesday. Reacting to the arrest, Anjali’s uncle Ravi said the family was devastated. “If we had known a child from our family would turn out like this, we would never have allowed the marriage,” he said, demanding the harshest punishment. What police now describe as a cold, calculated conspiracy was carried out under the guise of an everyday routine — a nightly walk that Ashish trusted would bring him home safely.
The chilling reminder of honeymoon murder
Raja Raghuvanshi travelled to Meghalaya with his wife Sonam for their honeymoon shortly after their marriage in May, 2025. Less than two weeks later, he was found dead in a remote area of the state. Investigators allege that Sonam conspired with her partner, Raj Kushwaha — a former employee and her lover at her family’s business — to murder Raja during the trip and stage it as an accident. Police said Raja was attacked with machetes by three men hired for the killing, while Sonam was present. His body was later dumped into a gorge, and his mobile phone was switched off to avoid detection. Sonam was traced several days later at a roadside eatery in Ghazipur district of Uttar Pradesh, where she was detained. Kushwaha and the three alleged assailants have since been arrested, police said.
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