Monday, 24 JULY 2023 | PNS | HALDWANI
The police have arrested Mahi Arya and her purported lover Deep Kandpal for the alleged murder of businessman Ankit Chauhan using a cobra. The duo was arrested from Rudrapur on Sunday, the Kumaon inspector general Nilesh Anand Bharne said while informing the media. Apart from Bharne announcing a reward of Rs 50,000 for the police team which caught the accused, Chauhan’s family also announced Rs 50,000 reward for the team. The domestic helps Usha Devi and Ramavtar, also accused in the case, are currently absconding.
It will be recalled that Arya and Kandpal got a snake charmer to make a cobra bite Chauhan in her Shanti Vihar colony residence in Haldwani on July 14.
Bharne said that the duo was arrested in Rudrapur when they were on their way from Gurugram to surrender in Haldwani. He said that the main accused Arya had hatched the conspiracy to get her boyfriend Chauhan killed by snakebite. The police first arrested snake charmer Ramesh Nath who revealed some details in the case. The police ascertained that Arya was earlier in love with Chauhan but later as their relationship deteriorated, she sought Kandpal’s help to get rid of him. They got Nath to make a cobra bite Chauhan on July 14 and dumped his body in a public place. After Nath’s arrest, the police sent teams to Delhi, Haryana, Nepal, Bihar and other districts of Uttarakhand to nab the main accused. After Arya and Kandpal were arrested on Sunday, they confessed to the crime during police questioning. She had started living alone since 2008 and had come into contact with some women involved in dubious businesses. She met Kandpal in 2016 and their friendship turned into a physical relationship. In 2020 she came in contact with Chauhan. They developed a friendship and he started visiting her home and living there every Saturday where the duo used to drink and party. She said that after some time, Chauhan became possessive and started restricting her movements which prevented her from meeting her other ‘clients’. Her source of income started depleting and the couple started having frequent altercations which also saw Chauhan allegedly turning violent on occasions. Kandpal, who often stayed at Arya’s residence also objected to Chauhan’s behaviour and told her to get rid of him. She got in touch with Nath last year and about six months ago he also started visiting her home where they allegedly developed physical relations. After attempts to improve the situation with Chauhan failed, Kandpal and Arya agreed to get rid of him. On July 14, she told Chauhan about going out and partying while her accomplices reached her home. Chauhan reached her home in the evening and she allegedly gave him water with sleeping pills in it. When he was under the influence of the drugs Nath brought out a cobra. She lifted his jeans and Nath made the cobra bite him in the leg. In a hurry they later checked the other leg and on not finding the bite marks, they got the snake to bite him on the other leg too. They kept Chauhan’s body in his car and left the vehicle along the Gaula bypass road. After being arrested by the police on Sunday, Arya and Kandpal said that they were on their way to meet a lawyer to facilitate their surrender.
