NEW DELHI: It was spring of 2010 when Kamal Singla , who was all of 22 at the time, fell in love with his neighbour, Shakuntala. They lived in a small village called Tapukara near Alwar , Rajasthan . After a few weeks, Shakuntala said yes to Singla’s proposal.However, their relationship didn’t go unnoticed for long as they were spotted by relatives while meeting in parks. This was in the autumn of 2010. As both were from different castes, their families were furious with the affair. Shakuntala’s family hurriedly searched for a groom and fixed her marriage.Singla, a transporter, was heartbroken. Shakuntala offered to elope, but Singla knew that would not work and they would be caught.Over the next few months, Singla extensively surfed the internet and watched movies and soap operas to zero in on a plan. On one weekend, he watched two movies — Humraaz and Helen of Troy — and instantly got inspired with the plots. He roped in his driver, Ganesh, by offering Rs 70,000 to carry out his plan.He then asked Shakuntala to get married to the man chosen by her family, but not develop physical relations with him. The plan was to execute a perfect murder so that they could live happily ever after.On February 8, Shakuntala got married to Ravi, a resident of Kapashera in southwest Delhi. As per the plan, she returned to her village just a day after marriage.In the next two weeks, Shakuntala, Singla and Ganesh finalised every minute detail of their plan and also did a dry run to make sure nothing went wrong. Shakuntala then reached Delhi on March 21, 2011. She stayed at her husband’s house, but told him that she had taken a vow not to get intimate with him for the goodwill of their marriage.The next day, the couple went for their first outing. The plan was to watch a movie and visit a relative. Ganesh passed by and Shakuntala stopped him for a ride. After a few minutes, Singla joined them and they drove past Samalakha.On the way, Singla revealed that he was Shakuntala’s old friend from their village. They dropped off Shakuntala at a relative’s place. Singla then asked Ravi to accompany him as he wanted to talk in private. After reaching a secluded spot, Singla and Ganesh strangled Ravi with a rope. They took the body to Tapukara and buried it. This spot was near Singla’s warehouse where he stored construction material.Meanwhile, when Ravi didn’t return, his father approached Kapashera police station. When Shakuntala was quizzed, she told police that Ravi had left her outside their relative’s house saying he would return in five minutes, but never did. After a month, on April 16, an FIR of abduction was lodged when police failed to get leads in the case. However, the family approached court and filed a Habeas Corpus writ. In October 2011, the case was transferred to Delhi Police’s Crime Branch .For the next eight years, police got various leads that pointed towards the involvement of Shakuntala and her lover, but they couldn’t move ahead because of lack of evidence. Finally, a team led by deputy commissioner of police (Crime) Joy Tirkey tracked down Kamal and Ganesh. Shakuntala is still absconding.On Saturday morning, an earthmover was used in the presence of Tizara tehsil sub-divisional magistrate and Tapukara SHO to dig up 5-6 feet of the ground from which 25 bones of Ravi’s body were recovered.