Ghaziabad: A woman allegedly killed her husband with the help of her lover after he came to know of their extramarital affair, and tried to portray it as a suicide in Loni. The crime came to light after the post-mortem report revealed that the man had been strangled to death. Both the accused were arrested on Friday.

The accused have been identified as Razia (32) and Salim (29), both residents of

colony. Razia was married to Ishraj Ahmad (34), a

, with whom she has three children.

Salim, originally a resident of Sambhal district, was friends with Ishraj. Indirapuram circle officer Ravi Kumar said Razia was involved in an extramarital affair with Salim for the past one year. “Razia used to give

to her husband daily, but he did not realise that. After Ishraj went to sleep, she used to call Salim over to the house,” Kumar added.

When Ishraj came to know about the affair in December, he confronted both the accused, who denied it. Ishraj then stopped talking to Salim and ordered his wife to do the same. The accused, meanwhile, started plotting to eliminate Ishraj.

On the night of December 26, Razia mixed some sleeping pills in her husband’s food. After he fell asleep, Salim entered the house and the two strangulated him with Razia’s dupatta, with the intention to stage it as a suicide, cops said.

“In the hospital, Razia told police and doctors that she was out for some work when her husband committed suicide. To police, she said when she returned home, she found that Ishraj had committed suicide by hanging himself from the ceiling fan. To fend off suspicion, she also told relatives that Ishraj was depressed lately as he was not getting much work,” a police officer investigating the case said.

The post-mortem report, however, told another story. It ruled out suicide and stated that Ishraj been strangulated by a dupatta. After receiving the report, cops started investigating the case.

“The autopsy report revealed that it was a case of murder. Investigations revealed that Razia drugged Ishraj with sleeping pills and killed him with Salim’s help. Both the accused were booked under Section 302 (punishment for murder) of the IPC and arrested in

on Friday,” said Pradeep Tripathi, SHO of Khora police station and the investigating officer in the case.

The duo was produced in a local court the same day, which sent them to judicial custody. While two of Ishraj and Razia’s children have been sent to stay with relatives, the youngest child, who is around six months old, is in jail with his mother, police said.