PNS | DEHRADUN
Police arrested the couple wanted for the murder of retired government school principal Shyamlal Rathore in Dehradun. The accused, identified as MBBS student Himanshu Chaudhary and his wife Geeta, were apprehended in Amritsar after evading authorities for several days, the Dehradun senior superintendent of police Ajai Singh said.
He informed that Geeta revealed during interrogation that she had been in a relationship with the deceased for the past 12 years. Singh said, “Geeta told the police that three years ago, she had separated from her first husband and was living with her daughter. In May 2024, she married Chaudhary who was pursuing an MBBS degree in Dehradun but had faced multiple academic setbacks, which led to financial difficulties. To address their monetary issues, the couple planned to blackmail Rathore by recording an objectionable video of him with Geeta and extorting money from him.”
Singh said that as part of the plan, both accused rented a room near their residence in Kishannagar and on February 2, she called Rathore there to meet her where Chaudhary was already present, waiting to record the video. “When Rathore arrived, he realised the couple’s intentions and started shouting for help. In an attempt to silence him, the accused restrained him. As he continued to resist, they suffocated him, leading to his death, as per their statements,” the SSP said. He stated that following the murder, they left the body in the rented room.
The next day, Geeta contacted her brother Ajay and her brother-in-law, Dhanraj Chawla and called them to Dehradun. “With Chaudhary’s medical knowledge, he was aware that after some time, blood coagulates in a body, making it easier to dismember. He, along with the others, cut the body into pieces, tied them with ropes and packed them in plastic sacks. The remains were transported in a vehicle brought by Dhanraj and disposed of in a canal in Deoband, Uttar Pradesh. They abandoned Rathore’s motorcycle near ISBT, removed its number plate and discarded it to mislead the police. After the crime, the couple moved to different locations, including Mumbai, Jaipur, Prayagraj, Kurukshetra and Amritsar, to evade arrest,” he said. The case came to light when Rathore’s daughter, Nidhi Rathore, filed a missing person report on February 2. The CCTV footage showed Rathore heading toward Geeta’s residence but not returning.
The police found that the couple had fled and their phones were switched off. Surveillance led to the identification of suspicious contacts, which ultimately linked the involvement of Geeta’s brother and brother-in-law. During questioning, they admitted to assisting in disposing of the body. The police recovered Rathore’s remains from the Badgaon area in Saharanpur on February 20. “With the help of surveillance and informants, the police arrested both accused in Amritsar late on Thursday,” Singh said.
