Holi celebration video, tantric rituals: New details emerge about ‘killer’ wife, her lover in chilling Meerut murder

New details emerged in the murder case of Saurabh Rajput, who was killed by his wife Muskan Rastogi and her lover Sahil Shukla. Jail officials said on Friday that Rastogi spent a restless night in Chaudhary Charan Singh district jail in Meerut, showing signs of extreme distress.

Muskan and Sahil had earlier confessed to murdering and dismembering her husband, Saurabh Rajput. They had allegedly stabbed him, cut him into pieces, and then put the body in a drum filled with cement. On Wednesday, the duo was presented in the court of the chief judicial magistrate and remanded to 14-day judicial custody.

Viresh Raj Sharma, senior jail superintendent, said, "Muskan and her lover, Sahil Shukla, were brought to the jail around 6 pm on Wednesday. Muskan was placed in the women's barrack (barrack number 12), while Sahil was assigned to the men's barrack (barrack number 18)."

"Muskan remained silent and did not interact with anyone. She also did not eat the provided food," he added. While jail sources told news agency PTI that Muskan cried throughout the night, the jail superintendent declined to comment on this.

Meanwhile, Rajput's body, which was dismembered and encased in a cement-filled drum, was brought home after a post-mortem examination. The body was cremated late Wednesday evening.

'Muskan and Sahil were childhood acquaintances'

According to PTI, the investigation revealed that Muskan and Sahil were childhood acquaintances. They had studied together from class one to class eight.

They reportedly reconnected through a WhatsApp group created by a mutual classmate, leading to a rekindled relationship in 2019, three years after Muskan and Saurabh's marriage.

The two met in person for the first time since school at a party organised by the WhatsApp group at a mall in Meerut, where their love affair started.

Muskan and Sahil saw Saurabh as an obstacle

Police claimed that the duo planned and killed Saurabh because they considered him to be an obstacle in their relationship.

Their affair eventually led to Muskan planning to leave Saurabh and marry Sahil instead. Police sources revealed that Muskan and Sahil saw Saurabh as an obstacle in their relationship and decided to kill him.

"Prima facie, it appears that Muskan and Sahil considered the husband a hindrance and plotted to murder him," said a police officer.

Multiple attempts to murder

The duo's first attempt at the murder on February 25 failed. Saurabh, who had returned just a day earlier, ate sedative-laced food served to him but only slept deeply without falling unconscious.

The SP said Muskan and Sahil planned the alleged murder. "On March 4, Muskan allegedly drugged Saurabh's food, leaving him unconscious. Sahil then joined her, and they stabbed Saurabh to death. They then dismembered his body in the bathroom, using a razor and knife," the SP said.

But on March 4, Muskan drugged her husband's food again, rendering him unconscious. She then joined Sahil in stabbing Saurabh to death. Afterward, the pair dismembered his body in an attempt to conceal the crime. They had already sent Muskan's six-year-old daughter to her grandmother's house before the murder took place.

"The following day, they purchased a blue plastic drum, cement and sand, and concealed Saurabh's body parts within the drum, filling it with a cement and sand mixture. They then went on a trip to Shimla, returning on March 17," the SP added.

"Muskan had purchased medicine to drug her husband and the weapons to kill him. The dismemberment was done to attempt to stuff the body into a bag, but when that failed, it was kept in the drum," the police official was quoted by PTI as saying.

Holi celebrations in Himachal 11 days after Murder

The duo then travelled to Himachal Pradesh, attempting to cover their tracks, before returning to Meerut on March 17. The very next day, following a complaint from Saurabh's family, the police detained the pair on suspicion.

A video emerged this week, showing Muskan Rastogi playing Holi with her lover Sahil Shukla in Manali. She could be seen laughing and posing for a video.

The couple had visited Shimla and Manali after the murder, NDTV reported. In another video from their Himachal Pradesh trip, Muskaan was seen feeding Sahil a piece of cake before saying "happy birthday" and kissing him.

Mint could not independently verify these videos.

Husband Saurabh 'worked in bakery in London'

SP City Ayush Vikram Singh said in a press conference, "The investigation revealed that Saurabh [Rajput], who worked in a bakery in London and returned home periodically, was murdered following his return on February 24," the SP said.

Meanwhile, news agency PTI describe Saurabh Rajput (29) as a "former Merchant Navy officer"

Muskan and Saurabh had a daughter

Muskan and Rajput got married in 2016, following a relationship and they had a six-year-old daughter. "The duo sent the six-year-old daughter to her grandmother's house before the murder," the officer said.

Tantric rituals central to Meerut murder?

Family members of Saurabh Rajput claimed that occult practices were central to the chilling murder.

Rajput's mother Renu Devi said, "Both Muskaan and Sahil were into occult practices. They killed my son by performing tantric rituals." Though police have not yet commented on the claims.

"Sahil's occult practices dominated Muskaan's mind in such a way that she started keeping her six-year-old daughter away. Sahil had made Muskaan an addict and completely superstitious," the deceased's mother said.

Neighbours claimed Sahil frequently dressed in yellow and black kurtas with "Mahakal" inscriptions on them while sporting numerous tattoos of religious and mystical symbols. His room was filled with unsettling imagery, including sketches of ominous figures.

"Many other scary images have also been found in Sahil's room. He used to go out only to feed cats and the lights in his room remained switched off most of the time," a neighbour was quoted by PTI as saying.

(With inputs from agencies)