BHUBANESWAR: A day after Commissionerate Police unraveled the gruesome murder of traffic constable Subhamitra Sahoo at the hands of her husband, Deepak Rout, his first wife’s sister lodged a complaint with police and sought a thorough probe into her sibling’s death in a road mishap.
Subhamitra’s murder brought the focus back on the accidental death of Deepak’s first wife, Aparna Priyadarshini, who was a revenue inspector (RI). Aparna’s younger sister, Rojalin Rout submitted a complaint to police commissioner S Dev Datt Singh alleging that Deepak had possibly killed her to receive the insurance policy payout of Rs 1.5 crore.
Aparna and Deepak had married in April 2018. “He started harassing my elder sister three to four months after their marriage. Aparna had even lodged an online complaint with the Commissionerate Police back then. At about 8 pm on March 17, he telephoned us and informed us that she had sustained injuries in an accident near Khuntuni,” read Rojalin’s complaint.
It further alleged that Deepak had shifted Aparna to a private hospital in Cuttack, where she succumbed. “We suspect it was a planned murder by Deepak to receive the insurance policy payout,” said Rojalin. She requested the city police to probe her sister’s death.
Meanwhile, DCP Jagmohan Meena placed Deepak under suspension on Thursday. Police also arrested his relative and an associate on the day for assisting him to dispose of the victim’s body.
Police had a tough task at hand as they investigated Subhamitra’s mysterious disappearance from different angles. They found her mobile phone and spotted some of the messages to family members and even Deepak in which she had expressed her desire to join Brahma Kumaris or settle at a place like Mathura or Vrindavan to live a peaceful life.
During interrogation, Deepak told investigators that he picked up Subhamitra for lunch and drove towards Surya Nagar area on September 6. He claimed they had a fight and she stepped down from his car and left the place. However, while examining the CCTV footage, police could not find any visuals of the victim’s movements.
This triggered a strong suspicion of foul play, and police analysed the call detail records (CDR) of Deepak to find that he usually woke up by 8 am. Surprisingly, his phone details revealed he had left for Keonjhar in the wee hours of September 7, the day he buried Subhamitra’s body with the assistance of his relative and an associate. Asked about the reason behind his visit to Keonjhar, Deepak claimed that he visited Maa Tarini Temple in Ghatagaon to offer prayers and seek the deity’s blessings for the safe return of his wife.
Deepak told police he spent about 3 hours in the temple, but investigation revealed he was there for a maximum of 10 to 15 minutes. His inconsistent statements prompted police to conduct a polygraph test on him and later he was arrested.
Police also dismissed claims that Deepak had packed the victim’s body in the boot space of his car and parked it at the CP office on the night of September 6.
In fact, he spent the night at his rented house on Mahtab Road with his car parked outside with the victim’s body in it. The next morning, the 39-year-old drove to Ghatagaon and disposed of her body, said a senior police officer.