Another ‘blue drum murder’: UP man killed in Rajasthan, body stuffed in drum by wife, lover of ‘1.5 months’

In a chilling echo of the infamous Meerut drum murder, the body of a 35-year-old man was found inside a blue plastic drum on the rooftop of a house in Rajasthan’s Khairthal-Tijara district. Police alleged that his wife and her lover, the son of their landlady, conspired to kill him barely six weeks after the family had moved into the rented property.

The deceased, identified as Hansram, also known as Suraj, was originally from Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh. He had been living in Kishangarhbas with his wife, Sunita, and their three children.

How was the body found?

Neighbours first alerted the Rajasthan authorities on Sunday, 17 August, after a foul smell began emanating from the building. When officers arrived, they discovered Hansram’s decomposed remains inside a salt-filled blue drum on the roof. Investigators confirmed that his throat had been slit with a sharp weapon.

Police said the concealment method bore an uncanny resemblance to the Meerut murder case, where a merchant navy officer, Saurabh Rajput, was killed by his wife and her lover before being hidden and cemented in a drum.

A plot of passion and betrayal

According to investigators, Hansram’s wife, Sunita, was engaged in a relationship with Jitendra, the son of the family’s landlady. The two allegedly planned to eliminate Hansram so they could live together. 

Police say the blue drum used to conceal the body was borrowed from Jitendra’s mother, Mithilesh, about a week before the murder, a detail that suggests the crime was premeditated.

“Sunita and Jitendra were arrested on Monday, 18 August, and both confessed during questioning,” a police officer told reporters.

A friendship that turned fatal

Sunita and her husband had shifted into Jitendra’s home only one and a half months ago. Initially, Jitendra bonded with Hansram, who worked at a local brick kiln. The two men often spent evenings drinking together, say media reports. But investigators say that Sunita and Jitendra quickly grew close, with their relationship intensifying within weeks.

Jitendra, a widower whose wife died 12 years ago, had been living alone until the family arrived. Police claim that Sunita, fond of making social media reels, began spending increasing amounts of time with him before the pair decided they wanted to “start a new life together”.

Murder on Janmashtami

The killing reportedly took place during Janmashtami celebrations. As neighbours and Jitendra’s mother attended the festivities at a local temple, Sunita and her lover seized the opportunity. They allegedly slit Hansram’s throat, hid his body in the drum, and later fled with the couple’s three children — Harshal, Nandini and Golu.

When Mithilesh returned from the temple, she found her son and the tenants missing. Initially, neighbours assumed the group had gone out to celebrate.

Suspicion leads to rooftop horror

By the following day, the stench from the rooftop grew unbearable. Mithilesh alerted police, telling them that Sunita had asked for the drum days earlier, claiming it was needed to store water. Officers opened the container to find Hansram’s remains buried under layers of salt, a desperate attempt to mask decomposition.

What next?

Both Sunita and Jitendra are now in custody and face charges of murder and criminal conspiracy. Their arrest has left the couple’s three young children without parents.