20 days after body found, Patna police recover victim’s head

Patna: Patna Police on Tuesday recovered the severed head of a man whose body was found cut into three pieces near a railway track in the city last month. The recovery came 20 days after the torso was discovered. The deceased was identified as Chandan (26), a resident of Kaushal Nagar under Airport police station area.

Three persons, including the main accused, have been arrested, police said.

Police said Chhotu Kumar, Amit alias Dilawar and Chhotu’s wife, Khushbu Kumari, have been arrested. Secretariat SDPO-1 Anu Kumari said, “Both Dilawar and Chhotu have prior criminal records. Chandan and Chhotu had an old dispute. The murder was carried out in a planned manner. Police are also probing a possible angle of love affair.”

According to the police, Chhotu and Dilawar were known to Chandan. Owing to the dispute, they allegedly conspired to kill him.

On May 13, locals spotted a headless body cut into three pieces near the railway track in Airport police station area and alerted the police. The body was sent to IGIMS for the postmortem. After the deceased was identified, family members blocked the Phulwari-Anisabad main road, demanding recovery of the missing head.

Chandan’s grandfather, Khiri Rai, had said Chandan left home after taking Rs200 from his mother. The family assumed he had gone to drive his autorickshaw, but later found the vehicle’s keys at home. When he did not return, they thought he had stayed at a friend’s house.

Locals informed the family that Chandan was last seen with Chhotu on the night he went missing. Local women later caught Khushbu and handed her over to Gardanibagh police on May 18.

Based on a complaint lodged by Diwali Rai, father of the deceased, police named Khushbu, Chhotu and Dilawar as the prime accused. Initially, police registered a UD (unnatural death) case after the unidentified body was found. An FIR for murder was lodged after the body was identified and the family filed a complaint.

“Acting on technical and human intelligence inputs, Khushbu was arrested on May 18. Based on her confession, Chhotu and Dilawar were subsequently arrested,” Secretariat SDPO-1 said.