Call recordings expose murder by lovers

AHMEDABAD: A murder planned with clinical precision may have been declared a case of natural death, had it not been for an automatic call recorder, which led the victim’s family to the culprits and exposed their detailed, nearly well-executed plan.

Kiran Yadav, 35, planned her husband Hakim Singh Yadav’s murder over phone calls with her boyfriend Deepu Shakya, 20, just 12 days into their long-distance relationship. However, she was unaware that her phone had an auto call recording feature.

Kanbha police said Hakim had arrived in the city on August 8 from Etawah, Uttar Pradesh, to join a security services agency. He was deployed at a factory in Dhamtawan village in Kanbha on the city’s outskirts where he met Shakya, a security guard and also a native of Etawah district. Hakim did not own a phone and used Shakya’s to call up Kiran to inform her about his safe arrival.

Whenever she wished to speak to Hakim, Kiran, living in Etawah’s Biloli village, would call on Shakya’s phone.

“As Hakim used to drink and did not keep well, she would enquire about his habits and wellbeing with Shakya, who initially would just pass on the required information, but later began consoling her. The two soon developed a strong bond,” a Kanbha police official said.

About a week later Kiran told Shakya that they could tie the knot if Hakim is eliminated and lured him ownership of her land. Shakya promised to raise her four children. “On the night of August 20, after Hakim had gone to bed, Kiran called up Shakya, instructing him to use the rear naked choke technique from behind to make the murder seem like natural death. After the murder, she called him up again, telling him to make sure that Hakim had indeed died,” the FIR stated.

The next morning, Shakya alerted other security guards about Hakim. His preliminary post-mortem report too did not mention injuries on the body, or a broken neck as is usually the case in strangulation.

Based on the report, Kanbha police registered a case of accidental death and informed Hakim’s family, who took the body back to their village for cremation.

On the day of the cremation, Hakim’s cousin Saurabh, while using Kiran’s phone, happened to find the call recordings , among which was a clip wherein she was heard contemplating the murder. Kiran is said to have confessed to the crime. The two have been arrested and booked for murder and criminal conspiracy.



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