Man kills live-in partner, builds marble platform to hide body

Bhopal, Feb 3: A 32-year-old man was arrested here on Thursday for allegedly killing his live-in partner and hiding the body at his home by building a marbled platform, police said.

Police arrested Udyan Das from near his home in Saket Nagar late in the night. They broke the concrete structure and recovered the body after he confessed to the crime. He killed Akanksha Sharma, alias Shweta , on December 27, police said.

The murder came to light when a team of West Bengal Police came to Bhopal looking for Sharma , whose parents lodged a complaint in December.

“Uday has confessed his crime but he is changing his statements. We are trying to verify the facts and get answers to many unanswered questions,” sub-inspector Ramesh Rai said on Friday.

Das told police they fought often as Sharma used to talk to her ex-boyfriend. On December 27, they again had an argument and he strangled her.

He stuffed the body in a wooden box and poured cement on it. Das waited for the cement to dry up before building a concrete platform and fixing marble tiles over it.

According to police, Sharma , a resident of Bankura in West Bengal, met Das on a social media site in 2007 and left her home in June last, telling her parents she had got a job in New York.

But, she came to Bhopal and started living with Das, who owns two luxury cars. Police are investigating the source of Das’s income as he doesn’t have a job but maintains a lavish lifestyle.

For a month, the woman remained in touch with her family, telling them she was in New York.

But after July, her family didn’t hear from her. Her parents lodged a police complaint while her brother traced the location of his sister’s cellphone to Bhopal, police said.

Das was evasive about his relationship with Sharma . He told police they got married in New York but changed the statement later to say the ceremony was held in a local temple.

Das told police his father used to work for BHEL and his mother retired as a deputy superintendent of police. He also claimed to be an IIT-Delhi passout. But, police are cross-checking his claims as he changed statements repeatedly.

Some neighbours told police that Das had locked his house and used to enter it through a window.