Office romance ends in murder: Lover beheads HR manager, carries head in backpack, dumps body in gunny bag

AGRA: A 32-year-old HR manager was brutally murdered, beheaded, her legs severed and the body stuffed into a gunny bag before being dumped near a bridge over the Yamuna river, allegedly by her lover, police said on Monday. The accused, identified as Vinay Singh (30), has been arrested, while efforts are on to recover the victim’s severed head.

Police said the body was found inside a gunny bag on Jawahar Bridge in the Etmadullah police station area in the early hours of January 24. The woman was later identified as Minky Sharma, a resident of Tedhi Bagiya in Agra.


Minky worked as an HR manager with a private firm in Sanjay Place, where the accused was employed as a computer operator. Police said the two had been in a relationship for over two years, but Vinay allegedly grew suspicious after learning that Minky had been in touch with another man for the past six months.

“Frequent arguments followed, eventually culminating in the murder. Minky had left home around 2 pm on January 23, telling her family that she was going to the office. When she did not return till evening and her phone was found switched off, the family searched for her and later approached the Trans Yamuna police station, where a missing complaint was registered,” said Dharmendra Kumar, SHO, Trans Yamuna police station.

Meanwhile, around 1 am on January 24, locals noticed a gunny bag lying on Jawahar Bridge and alerted police. On opening it, officers found the naked, headless body of a woman, following which efforts were launched to establish her identity.

DCP (City) Sayed Ali Abbas constituted five police teams to crack the case. “CCTV footage showed a man dragging a gunny bag out of an office and later riding a scooter towards Jawahar Bridge. Based on the missing complaint and footage from Maruti Plaza, police identified the suspect as Vinay Singh. He was also captured on CCTV cameras installed on MG Road and the highway while riding the victim’s scooter,” a police officer said.

During interrogation, Vinay confessed to the crime and told police that he had called Minky to the office on January 23. “Following an argument, he attacked her repeatedly with a knife, inflicting a fatal blow to her neck. He then dismembered the body, packed it in a plastic bag and sealed it with parcel tape. The head was kept in a backpack,” an officer said.

The accused told police he took the body on Minky’s scooter to Jawahar Bridge with the intention of dumping it into the Yamuna. “When he failed to lift the bag and noticed passersby, he abandoned it near the bridge and fled. He later disposed of the severed head, the victim’s clothes, mobile phone and bag near a drain, and left the scooter at a secluded place,” the officer added.

An FIR was registered at the Trans Yamuna police station under Sections 103(1) (murder) and 238 (destroying evidence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant provisions of the Arms Act. Police have recovered the scooter, the knife used in the crime and the victim’s clothes.

Abbas said, “We found that a young man named Vinay Singh, who had been working with Minky Sharma for the past two years, had a dispute with her. He wanted to marry her, but she refused. On detailed interrogation, he confessed to the crime. The knife, scooter and clothes have been recovered, and the family has identified the body. Vinay Singh is being sent to judicial custody and the strictest action will be taken.”