india

Updated: May 03, 2019 23:40 IST

A 32-year-old Delhi school teacher hired a contract killer to strangle her husband and then pretended that he had died of natural causes, so that she could live with her boyfriend, police said on Friday after arresting all the three persons allegedly involved in the murder.

Late on Monday night, Preeti Jain drugged 42-year-old Subodh Jain, and facilitated the entry of the contract killer into her house in north-east Delhi’s New Usmanpur, said Atul Kumar Thakur, deputy commissioner of police (north-east).

She left with her three children for her parents’ home to create an alibi, only to return two days later and pretend that he was lying unconscious in the house.

Preeti Jain worked as a contractual teacher with an MCD school. The victim operated a small playschool from their home. “The couple shared a strained relationship and Preeti was in love with 30-year-old Rahul Jain, a garments trader in Sonepat in Haryana. Preeti wanted to live with Rahul and planned her husband’s murder with him,” Thakur said.

Acting on their “elaborate murder plan”, Rahul Jain roped in his childhood friend Vijay Hooda to carry out the killing. Hooda was allegedly paid R1.5 lakh for the job.

“Preeti fed sleeping pills to her husband. Once he was asleep, she left for her parents’ home with her three children. She also handed over a duplicate key of her house to Rahul who further passed it on to Hooda who was to carry out the murder the same night,” said the DCP.

Hooda allegedly used the duplicate key to enter the house early on Tuesday morning. “He used a nylon string to strangulate Subodh. He then picked up a mobile phone and a laptop and then ransacked the cupboard to pass it off as a murder committed during robbery,” said the DCP.

The following day, Preeti Jain alerted her neighbours that her husband had collapsed in the house, and told them that this was a frequent occurrence due to a medical condition. The local police reached the spot and found Subodh dead. “Preeti told us that her husband was prone to falling unconscious, but we decided to send the body for autopsy,” said the officer.

The autopsy report revealed that he was strangled. “The crime scene looked like it was a murder committed during robbery, but there was no forced entry into the house. Someone appeared to have used a key to enter the house,” said the DCP.

When the police focused their probe towards Preeti Jain, she allegedly told them that there were two keys to the house, but she had lost one of them a week earlier. “That aroused our suspicion. When we probed deeper, we got to know she was in regular touch with Rahul,” said the officer.