UP man kills cop wife, 3-year-old son for Rs 2 crore payout; stages murders as accident with help of 4 aides

MEERUT: Police in Rampur have unearthed a cold-blooded double murder staged as a road accident in which a contractor allegedly burnt his three-year-old child alive and hammered his constable wife to death to claim insurance and service benefits worth about Rs 2 crore.

The husband initially told police that their car caught fire after hitting a dumper, but his unexplained survival raised suspicion.Rampur SP Somendra Meena said that investigators discovered that Dan Singh had spiked his wife Lata Singh's drink with sedatives before driving to a secluded spot. "He, along with his accomplices, then doused the vehicle with petrol and set it ablaze. While son Avansh burned to death, the woman constable somehow managed to come out of the burning car.

They then forced her into another vehicle and battered her to death with a hammer.

"According to police, the couple had gone to Nainital to visit his relative Ravi Kumar, who accompanied them on their way back. Dan deliberately hit the car into a truck in Bajpur region near Rampur (his hometown). Since the vehicle suffered some damage, they stopped the car. Dan brought two bottles of beverages and spiked the drinks with sedatives and gave them to his wife and son.

After they became unconscious, Dan called his friends to perpetrate the crime.The two friends, Pradeep Kumar and Mohd Salman, arrived with a can of petrol and poured it on the car and then set it ablaze and left. As the flames rose, Dan and Ravi came out of the vehicle. While the child died, the woman somehow managed to get out of the car despite being in a semi-conscious state.Dan then called another associate, Noor Hasan, who reached the spot in a car.

They put Lata inside and hammered her to death.Police said a case has been lodged against five people, with three -- including Dan, Noor and Salman -- already in custody. Police said they have recovered the murder weapon and the vehicles involved in the crime.Dan married Lata in 2021. Lata was posted in Shravasti district and their relationship had soured over the years. "Lata was Dan's second wife. His first wife also died in mysterious circumstances, and we are looking into it," said superintendent of police Meena.