BHUBANESWAR: Police on Wednesday arrested a 24-year-old man for allegedly murdering his wife by forcibly injecting her with a high dose of anaesthesia in the capital. Two women, both nurses, who had assisted the accused, Pradyumna Kumar, in the crime, have also been arrested.
The victim, Subhashree Nayak (26), died on October 28. Police classified the case as murder after receiving the post-mortem report.
In a bid to cover up the crime, Pradyumna, along with Roji Patra and Ejita Bhuyan, allegedly shifted Subhashree to Capital Hospital on Monday, claiming she had attempted suicide. Subhashree was declared brought dead at the hospital.
Pradyumna and Subhashree, who was a native of BJB Nagar, had married in 2020 after a love affair. Since the marriage, Pradyumna had allegedly been harassing and physically assaulting Subhashree, leading her to stay with her parents for the past six months.
Initial investigations revealed that Pradyumna, who had worked as a pharmacist at a private hospital, had quit his job a few months ago. Roji and Ejita were employed as nursing staff in separate private hospitals in the city.
Pradyumna met Ejita in 2023 and became acquainted with Roji the following year. He allegedly told the two women that his wife was torturing him, and the trio conspired to kill her, according to police.
On October 27, Pradyumna visited Subhashree's home and convinced her to return with him to his residence in Kesura. The next day, as per their plan, Pradyumna took Subhashree to Roji's house, where Ejita was also present.
The trio overpowered Subhashree and injected her with high doses of Midazolam, a sedative used before medical procedures, and potassium chloride (KCl), which led to her death.
"After receiving the post-mortem report, foul play was strongly suspected. A detailed investigation confirmed that it was a case of murder. All three accused have been arrested, and further investigation is ongoing," said DCP Pinak Mishra.
Pradyumna hails from Marshaghai in Kendrapara district, while Roji is from Soro in Balasore district, and Ejita belongs to Gajapati district, police said.