UP horror: 4 days after engagement, MNC employee dies after lover smashes her head with stone

LUCKNOW: A phone call made to 22-year-old MNC employee Shivani Singh on the day she went missing led Lucknow police to her alleged lover, who was later arrested for her murder on Tuesday.

Shivani was allegedly killed just four days after her engagement. Her body was recovered near Utretia railway station in Vrindavan Yojana on Monday.

Shivani had left her home on May 17 for office but did not return. Her body bore multiple injuries.

ADCP, South Zone, Vasanth Kumar, said police scanned CCTV footage and analysed Shivani’s call detail records.

It revealed that Shivani had received a call from her alleged lover, Prem Kumar Manjhi, shortly before her. The call and subsequent location tracking led investigators to him.

ADCP Kumar said Shivani got engaged to Prakash on May 14, and preparations for the wedding were underway at her home.

During questioning, investigators learnt that Prem, with whom Shivani had reportedly been in a relationship for nearly six years, was upset over her engagement.

According to police, Prem called Shivani to meet him at an isolated stretch near railway station on May 17 night. A heated argument allegedly broke out between the two over her engagement and relationship issues, following which he allegedly strangled her with a rubber pipe.

Police said Prem dragged the body into nearby bushes and smashed her head with a stone and dumped her mobile into the Telibagh canal to destroy evidence.

Prem Kumar Manjhi, 23, has been booked under Sections 103(1) and 238 of the BNS for murder and destruction of evidence.