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

The 14monthold 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 familyrsquos rented flat in Naigaon on May 24 ldquoThe child was crying for his mother while the killer Mintu Singh was slitting her throatrdquo said an officer privy to the investigationAfter she was beheaded he dismembered the body at the waistrdquo he added ldquoWhile 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 sleeprdquo said the officerA 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 PicsHanif PatelAfter the body was severed into three pieces the 33yearold Mintu called his younger brother Chunchun who lives in Charkop The latter reached Naigaon around 930 pm and helped the killer dispose of the body The siblings had bound Anjalirsquos hands and legs before stuffing her remains into a travel bagldquoChunchun 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 1230 am on May 25rdquo said the officer adding ldquoThe dissected headless body was disposed of by the seaside at Uttanrdquo ldquoIn a bid to console the child the monster held onto him while the kidrsquos uncle rode the scooter with the headless body stuffed in the suitcaserdquo said another officerVersova bridgeAfter disposing of the suitcase the killer and his brother returned to the flat only to grab Anjalirsquos head which was kept wrapped in a plastic bag in the bathroom ldquoThey 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 recoveredrdquo 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 ldquoThe bag was filled with maggots and smelt like rotten meatrdquo said an officerSolved within 12 hoursAs the case was a challenging one for the Uttan Sagari police Dadaram Karande the incharge 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 handThe accused in police custody on Saturday PicsHanif PatelA plastic bag was found in the suitcase bearing the word lsquoSativlirsquo The investigating team approached the private firm that had manufactured it ldquoWe asked them if there were any missing employees with that name and also showed them the tattoo but our efforts did not yield any fruitrdquo said an officer Later the police started to focus on tattoo artists and learnt that the tattoo was not finely made ldquoA tattoo artist told us that it could be the handiwork of a roadside artist who are generally found near beaches which couples generally frequentrdquo said a police officerldquoSo 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 questionedrdquo said an officer After disposing of the remains the alleged killer visited Anjalirsquos mother in Nepal ldquoHe told his motherinlaw that Anjali had left the house after a quarrel and asked her to take care of the child until she was foundrdquo said the policeChunchun and Mintu Singh on their way to get rid of Anjalirsquos remains on May 25The Sagri Uttan police also seized the bike which was used by Mintu According to the cops he had borrowed a neighbours 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 Anjalirsquos head in Bhayandar creek