A woman allegedly first served her husband food laced with sleeping pills and when he fell unconscious, she along with her alleged paramour and his friend tried to strangle him before throwing him into a canal while the man was still alive, police said.

The incident occurred at Rasoolpur Rohata village of Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut district on October 25. The trio allegedly conspired to kill the man when he opposed his wife’s illicit relationship.

According to SP (rural), Meerut, Abhijeet Kumar, Anil, 32, a mason by profession who is feared dead, went missing on October 25. The next day, his elder brother Raju lodged a missing person’s report at Rohata police station. Police initiated an investigation and, with the help of surveillance and call detail records, began to suspect foul play.

On November 5, Raju lodged a named FIR against Anil’s wife Kajal, her lover Akash and Akash’s friend Badal, accusing them of abducting Anil and expressing suspicion that they might have murdered his brother. Following a sustained investigation, Rohata police arrested Akash and Badal on Friday morning near Rasoolpur Madhi government school. Based on their confession, Anil’s wife Kajal was also taken into custody.

During interrogation, Akash and Badal revealed that Kajal had mixed sleeping pills in Anil’s dinner on October 25 following which he slipped into a semi-conscious state. Later that night, around 2 am, Kajal called Akash and Badal, who arrived on a motorcycle.

Together, they placed drowsy Anil between them on the bike and took him to Siwalkhas Gangnahar bridge. There, they tried to strangle him with Kajal’s dupatta. When Anil did not die immediately, the trio allegedly threw him into the canal.

The next morning, Kajal pretended to be unaware of her husband’s whereabouts and informed the family that he had gone missing. Meanwhile, police took the accused trio to the crime spot for evidence collection. Kajal’s dupatta, used during the murder attempt, was recovered from the bushes near the canal bridge, while the remaining sleeping pills were seized from her house.

A massive search operation, aided by PAC divers, has been launched to locate Anil. The three accused, booked under relevant sections for abduction and murder bid, were produced before a court on Thursday evening and later sent to jail. Anil had married Kajal eight years ago, and the couple have three young children.