Wife, lover arrested for killing husband by poisoning his drink

Agra: A woman and alleged lover were arrested on Monday in Etah for allegedly murdering her husband by spiking his drink with a poisonous spray.The body of Hemant Mishra (45), a local stamp vendor, was found by villagers on Saturday in a wheat field near a liquor shop, about 5km from Jaithra police station. Police reached the spot, identified the body, and conducted a post-mortem. Initially, officers suspected death due to excessive alcohol consumption."However, analysis of technical evidence, including call detail records, mobile location and surrounding circumstances, indicated it could be a murder," said Jaithra SHO Ritesh Thakur.An FIR was registered on Sunday under BNS sections 103(1) (murder), 238 (destroying evidence), and 61 (criminal conspiracy) against Mishra's wife, her alleged lover Sumit alias Sonu Chauhan, both residents of Etah, and unknown persons based on a complaint by Mishra's brother.During the investigation, police reconstructed the sequence of events and found that a car had arrived at the spot where the body was later recovered. CCTV footage showed the vehicle leaving within three minutes. When Mishra's phone was tracked, its location was found to be moving in tandem with the same car."We traced the car and questioned its occupants. Chauhan confessed to killing Mishra and said he had taken the help of his driver, Ajay, to dispose of the body," said ASP Swetabh Pandey. Ajay was also arrested on Monday. During questioning, Chauhan told police he was in a relationship with Mishra's wife for several months. The two families had known each other for years, and the two grew closer after Chauhan's wife died in Oct 2025."They hatched the murder plan around 15 days ago and bought a poisonous spray. On Feb 13, on the pretext of taking Mishra to a wedding, Chauhan made him drink alcohol in the car and administered an overdose of the spray, which killed him," Pandey said.To create an alibi and mislead investigators, Chauhan attended two weddings before dumping Mishra's body near his village, the officer added.