Murder plot discussed over phone lands lovers in jail for life in Ahmedabad

AHMEDABAD: What began as a viral audio clip circulating in a Uttar Pradesh village eventually turned into the cornerstone of a murder investigation that led an Ahmedabad district court to convict two lovers for murder of the woman’s husband.

Principal district judge K M Sojitra on Thursday sentenced Kirandevi Yadav, 34, and her partner Dipu Shakya, 20, to life imprisonment for the murder of Hakimsingh Yadav, Kirandevi’s husband, in a case where forensic voice analysis and call data records played a decisive role.

According to the prosecution, Kirandevi, a mother of two daughters, and Shakya developed an intimate relationship while Hakimsingh and Shakya worked together as security guards on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. Investigators said the couple later conspired to eliminate Hakimsingh.

Police said Hakimsingh was strangled on Aug 21, 2023. His death initially did not attract major suspicion, but days later, family members in Uttar Pradesh discovered a 19:11-minute audio recording stored in Kirandevi’s mobile phone. The clip allegedly captured a detailed telephonic conversation between the accused discussing how the murder was executed.

As the recording spread widely in their native village, Hakimsingh’s relatives approached Kanbha police in Ahmedabad district’s Daskroi taluka and lodged a complaint. The two accused were arrested on Aug 26, 2023.

During the investigation, both accused denied knowing each other. However, police obtained call detail records (CDR) showing frequent communication between them before the incident. Investigators also subjected the audio clip to scientific examination, including voice spectrography, which matched the voices in the viral audio clip of the accused.

The court relied heavily on circumstantial and forensic evidence, including medical findings that confirmed death due to asphyxia caused by neck compression.

The court noted in it order, “The CDR revealed number of call made between the mobile phone number used by the respective accused persons and even prior to the day of incident. All these circumstances in its entirety leave no room for doubt about the guilt of the accused persons of having committed death of deceased as a part of conspiracy hatched among themselves.”

The court awarded life imprisonment to both the accused persons, and ordered the state govt to fix a compensation amount under the Victim Compensation Scheme for the two daughters of Kirandevi for the loss of their father’s life.