Merchant Navy Officer’s Death in Meerut: Saurabh’s Body Chopped, Packed in Drum with Cement by wife and her boyfriend

Uttar Pradesh Police has revealed spine-chilling details regarding the murder of Merchant Navy officer Saurabh Rajput in Meerut allegedly by his wife Muskan Rastogi and her boyfriend Sahil Shukla. The case has also raised questions on the mental health of the duo who have confessed to their crime.

The 29-year-old Merchant Navy officer Saurabh Rajput was brutally murdered by his wife Muskan Rastogi and her boyfriend and co-accused Sahil Shukla (both 27), in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut on March 4 after which his body was cut into pieces and hidden in a drum filled with cement by the duo who were planning to get married and considered Saurabh as an “obstacle” to their relationship.

Muskan Rastogi and boyfriend Sahil Shukla in jail

Muskan Rastogi and her boyfriend Sahil Shukla who have confessed to murdering and dismembering Saurabh Rajput have been arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police. On Wednesday, the two accused were remanded to 14-day judicial custody by the court of the chief judicial magistrate. Outside the court, a group of lawyers, who enraged by the crime, physically attacked them.

As per the police, the duo displayed restless behaviour at night in Chaudhary Charan Singh district jail in Meerut, showing signs of distress. While Muskan has been kept in the women’s barrack, co-accused Sahil Shukla has been lodged separately in the men’s unit. Senior jail superintendent Viresh Raj Sharma has revealed that after coming to the jail Muskan kept quiet, cried at night and refused food. The duo had reportedly requested to be kept in adjacent barracks, but their request was denied.

How the murder was was planned?

As per police, the love affair started in 2019 after school buddies Muskan and Sahil were reunited with each other at a reunion hosted by their school group at a mall in Meerut. As per the police, the two bonded over drugs as they used to consume narcotics together. This bond grew stronger due to the absence of Muskan’s husband who was posted in London.

As the romance grew deeper, the lovers started considering Muskan’s husband Saurabh as an ‘obstacle’ to their relationship after which they started planning the cold blooded murder in November last year.

On February 22, Muskan bought two knives for Rs 800 telling the storekeeper that she needs the same to cut chicken. She also had faked anxiety to a doctor and obtained sleeping pills with plans to sedate her husband before killing him.

Police has revealed that from purchasing knives to getting sedatives and checking out various locations to dispose of the dead body, Muskan and Sahil had very carefully planned the cold blooded murder.

How was the murder committed?

On February 24, Saurabh Rajput returned to Meerut from London and on the following day his wife offered him a drink mixed the sedatives which he refused. However, Muskaan and Sahil did not give up and kept looking for an opportunity to drug Saurabh for several days. They

On March 4, Saurabh came home carrying an item made of bottle gourd cooked by his mother. Offering to reheat the item before the meal, Muskan laced it with sedatives. After Saurabh fell unconscious post the meal, his wife dialled her boyfriend Sahil asking him to come over to their rented home in Indira Nagar. The two of them then started stabbing the unconscious Saurabh with knives, stabbing him multiple times until he succumbed to his injuries, as revealed by SP (City) Ayush Vikram Singh.

Saurabh’s body chopped into 15 pieces, concealed in a drum with cement

After murdering Saurabh, Sahil dragged his body to the bathroom, severed his head and hands with a razor. His body was chopped into 15 pieces. While they initially planned to stuff the pieces into plastic bags and disposing of the same at different locations, they later changed the plan. His torso was packed into a bag and kept inside the box of their double bed on which his wife Muskan slept at night. Meanwhile, her boyfriend carried the head and hands to his own home, keeping the same in his room for one full day.

On March 5, the duo bought a large drum and purchased cement from a local market. Coming back to Muskan’s Indira Nagar residence, they stuffed Saurabh’s torso inside the drum. After this, Sahil brought back the severed head and hands and put it in the drum. After this, the duo poured a mixture of cement and dust, sealing the drum completely. After this, the duo fled to Himachal Pradesh for a few days and returned on March 17 after which they were arrested. Muskan had confessed to her mother on March 18 about murdering her husband.

‘Papa is in the drum’: How deceased’s daughter helped in the case

Saurabh’s mother Renu Devi has told the police that her six-year-old granddaughter knew about the murder. “That is why, as we have come to know from some people, she (Saurabh’s daughter) was saying, ‘Papa is in the drum’,” the bereaved mother said.