Gujarat man who alerted cops about grandmother-in-law’s murder confesses to three killings

AHMEDABAD: A man who provided information about the alleged murder of his grandmother-in-law in Gujarat’s Surat district was himself involved in the killing, apparently to grab her property, and two other murders in 2022, police have said.

Accused Madhavdas Sadhu had initially informed the police that his grandmother-in-law Shantaben Vasava, a resident of Kosamba, was allegedly murdered four to five years ago by his wife Urmila and her cousin Afzal and that her body was buried under concrete inside a house.

Acting on the information, the Crime Branch officials took Afzal into custody and questioned him. He denied having any knowledge about Shantaben’s murder, an official release said on Wednesday.

However, the grisly story began to unravel when police quizzed Madhavdas in Afzal’s presence.

Madhavdas told the police that he had provided false information against Afzal as he feared that his wife, who had left home around nine months ago with their son and allegedly taken away valuables, and Afzal could implicate him in a case, police said.

He then confessed to killing his grandmother-in-law along with his wife Urmila, the release said.

“Madhavdas said that on the night of October 7, 2022, he and Urmila killed his grandmother-in-law Shantaben Vasava with a pillow while she was sleeping. They put her body in a drum, poured three bags of cement mixed with water over it, closed the drum and kept it inside the house,” the release said.

Around three-and-a-half months later, they allegedly cut open the drum and buried the body along with the cement in a pit dug in the verandah of the house, it said.

Madhavdas allegedly told relatives different versions of Shantaben’s death, claiming to his wife’s relatives that she had died of COVID-19 in Valthara and telling his own relatives that she had died in Kosamba.

Police said the alleged murder was committed with the intention of taking possession of Shantaben’s property.

In another alleged murder, Madhavdas and Urmila allegedly killed his 65-year-old mother in 2022.

“Manjulaben Sadhu, mother of Madhavdas Sadhu, had suffered paralysis around 2021, and she was bedridden with sores on parts of her body. The couple allegedly strangled her with a pillow and told relatives and villagers that she had died due to paralysis. Her cremation was subsequently carried out at the Chakli Talav crematorium in Dholka,” the release said.

The third alleged victim was Madhavdas’ sister-in-law Bharti, alias Bhagwati, who had been married to Kamlesh Vasava and was living with Shantaben at Kosamba.

“His brother-in-law Kamlesh allegedly died by suicide in his native village, and Bharti continued to live with his grandmother Shantaben. She later developed severe tuberculosis,” the release said.

On the night of February 25, 2022, the couple allegedly strangled Bharti with a pillow and later claimed that she had died due to tuberculosis. Her last rites were performed with burial at Kosamba, it said.

It was not immediately clear if Urmaila had been taken into custody.

Legal proceedings are being initiated against the accused in this entire matter, and further investigation is ongoing, police said.