mumbai

Updated: Jan 13, 2019 17:36 IST

The Kolshewadi police on Saturday arrested a man from Vikhroli for allegedly strangling his 25-year-old sister and hanging her body from a tree at the Kalyan railway yard. The arrested accused has been identified as 28-year-old Tirthraj Yadav.

The victim’s father, Lotu Yadav, and her cousins, Ramakant Yadav and Manoj Yadav, have also been accused in the case. A police team has been dispatched to Uttar Pradesh to arrest them.

The incident took place on December 31 between 4am and 4.30am. Manita Yadav was allegedly killed by her family members after she was found cheating on her husband at her in-laws’ residence in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh.

On December 25, Manita’s parents-in-law caught her cheating and sent back to her maternal home. Manita stayed at her parents’ residence in Uttar Pradesh for two days, after which they told her they would take her to Mumbai, where her brother works as a technician at a private firm. They said that their neighbours and relatives had been taunting them because of the affair.

On December 28, her family members lodged a missing person complaint at Azamgarh police station. On December 30, the four accused and Manita boarded the Kamayani Express. The next day, they alighted at Kalyan railway station.

According to police, Manita was taken to a secluded spot at the Kalyan railway yard. She was strangled with a rope and hanged from a tree branch. Lotu, Ramakant and Manoj then left for Uttar Pradesh. “On January 1, we were alerted that a woman’s body was found hanging from a tree. Initially, we suspected that the woman must have committed suicide and sent the body for post mortem. During the search operation, we found a SIM card inside her sweater pocket,” said A Gavit, assistant police inspector (API), Kolshewadi police station.

According to Gavit, the SIM card was instrumental in helping the police establish the victim’s identity. “We traced the SIM card to Azamgarh. We learnt from local police that Manita had been reported as missing since December 28,” he said.

“CCTV footage showed Manita and the four accused getting down at Kalyan railway station. We arrested Tirthraj, whose phone location revealed that he was at the spot at the time,” Gavit said.