The brutal killing of Merchant Navy officer Saurabh Rajput in Uttar Pradesh is still unearthing horrific details. His wife, Muskan Rastogi, and her paramour, Sahil Shukla, had apparently planned his murder for months before committing the crime on March 4.
Inquiries expose that Rastogi had been planning it from November. She even tricked Shukla into thinking his late mother was communicating with him via Snapchat, manipulating him into helping kill.
Pre-Meditated Execution
Rastogi carefully planned the murder, according to authorities. She bought two knives for ₹800 on February 22, saying she needed them to chop chicken. She also pretended to be anxious to get sedatives, which she later added to Rajput’s liquor.
Rajput came home on February 24, but his wife’s first attempt to drug him had failed. She and Shukla kept waiting for the perfect moment. Eventually, on March 4, they managed to sedate Rajput before killing him with stabs.
They dismembered the body into 15 pieces and packed it in a cement-filled drum in order to hide the crime, finding it difficult to dispose of it without arousing suspicion.
Drug Use and Manipulation
Rastogi’s family alleges that she and Shukla were habitual drug users, which could have played a role in the crime. A report by Dainik Bhaskar suggests that Shukla was a frequent cannabis user and had introduced Rastogi to drugs, making her dependent on him.
Additional searches of Shukla’s leased apartment revealed murals that suggested drug use. There was one painting showing a star polygon encircled by the number six, a symbol most commonly seen in Satanic imagery. There was another mural that included the words, “You can’t trip with us,” accompanied by discarded beer cans.
Police also uncovered Rastogi’s elaborate scheme to manipulate Shukla. She created a Snapchat account, posing as his deceased mother, and convinced him that she was speaking to him from the afterlife.
Shukla’s mother was not the account holder, but Rastogi sent the messages in a manner that led him to think his dead mother had been reborn and was talking to him. She employed this as a tool of manipulating Shukla and, later on, to persuade him to murder her husband,” Superintendent of Police (Meerut City) Ayush Vikram Singh informed NDTV.
Deceiving the Family
Rajput’s wedding to Rastogi in 2016 had put a strain on his relationship with his family, who opposed the marriage. They gradually kept their distance over time, leaving Rastogi with a chance to conceal his murder.
Singh disclosed that Rajput used to go to his parents sometimes for lunch but was not close to them. As he used to travel abroad a lot, Rastogi had decided to make his family believe that he had embarked on another trip and would never return.
Post-murder, she told relatives that Rajput had traveled to Manali for holidays. She even sent messages from his phone to his family, acting as him.
NDTV got the WhatsApp exchanges between Rastogi and Rajput’s sister Chinki, in which Rastogi messaged on March 6 to know if she would be in Meerut for Holi. After Chinki assured him, Rastogi, who was impersonating Rajput, replied that he was away from town and would come back after the festival.
On 16 March, Chinki tried to call her brother, but no one picked up. Her follow-up calls the following day were also unsuccessful, and suspicions arose. Fearing something, the family lodged a complaint with the police.
For the sake of the deception, Rastogi and Shukla even went to Manali, posting Rajput’s phone pictures to justify their made-up story. But when questioned by the police, Rastogi admitted to committing the crime.
When Rastogi and Shukla returned to Delhi from Manali, they were arrested.
