Man may have killed wife in front of child, cops suspect

Anjali Singh and Mintu Singh

The 14-month-old son of Anjali Singh, the woman who was beheaded and chopped into pieces allegedly by her husband, may have witnessed her being killed and mutilated at the family's rented flat in Naigaon on May 24. "The child was crying for his mother while the killer, Mintu Singh, was slitting her throat," said an officer privy to the investigation.

After she was beheaded, he dismembered the body at the waist," he added. "While the body was being chopped, the toddler, who had nodded off, woke up; but the monster offered him milk to get him to go back to sleep," said the officer.

A still of CCTV footage in which the killer, his brother and son are seen on their way to dispose of the body on May 25. Pics/Hanif Patel

After the body was severed into three pieces, the 33-year-old Mintu called his younger brother Chunchun, who lives in Charkop. The latter reached Naigaon around 9.30 pm and helped the killer dispose of the body. The siblings had bound Anjali's hands and legs before stuffing her remains into a travel bag.

"Chunchun drove the scooter and kept the bag on the footrest while the killer rode pillion. The brothers can be seen in CCTV camera footage going out of the building premises on the scooter around 12.30 am on May 25," said the officer, adding, "The dissected headless body was disposed of by the seaside at Uttan." "In a bid to console the child, the monster held onto him while the kid's uncle rode the scooter with the headless body stuffed in the suitcase," said another officer.

Versova bridge

After disposing of the suitcase, the killer and his brother returned to the flat only to grab Anjali's head which was kept wrapped in a plastic bag in the bathroom. "They then picked up the bag and drove the scooter to Versova bridge. During his interrogation, the killer told us that he tossed the bag containing the head into Bhayandar creek. It is yet to be recovered," an officer stated. The matter came to light on June 2 when the suitcase was discovered by morning walkers who informed the Mira Bhayandar Vasai Virar (MBVV) police. "The bag was filled with maggots and smelt like rotten meat," said an officer.

Solved within 12 hours

As the case was a challenging one for the Uttan Sagari police, Dadaram Karande, the in-charge of the police station, and his team looked into the matter while crime branch sleuths conducted a parallel investigation. Initially, it was tough for the cops to ascertain the identity of the deceased, who had a trishul and Om tattoo on her left hand.

The accused in police custody on Saturday. Pics/Hanif Patel

A plastic bag was found in the suitcase bearing the word ‘Sativli'. The investigating team approached the private firm that had manufactured it. "We asked them if there were any missing employees with that name and also showed them the tattoo, but our efforts did not yield any fruit," said an officer. Later, the police started to focus on tattoo artists and learnt that the tattoo was not finely made. "A tattoo artist told us that it could be the handiwork of a roadside artist, who are generally found near beaches which couples generally frequent," said a police officer.

"So, we started to contact local tattoo artists and learnt about one of them in Vasai. After retrieving all details such as the contact number of the woman, we traced her address and reached Mintu Singh, who failed to give us satisfactory replies when questioned," said an officer. After disposing of the remains, the alleged killer visited Anjali's mother in Nepal. "He told his mother-in-law that Anjali had left the house after a quarrel and asked her to take care of the child until she was found," said the police.

Chunchun and Mintu Singh on their way to get rid of Anjali's remains on May 25

The Sagri Uttan police also seized the bike which was used by Mintu. According to the cops, he had borrowed a neighbour's bike, claiming that Anjali was going to her village and needed it urgently to carry luggage. On Sunday, the Uttan Sagri police recreated the scene and took Mintu and Chunchun to his Naigaon flat. The cops are looking for Anjali's head in Bhayandar creek.