Uttarakhand Murder Case: Husband Strangles Wife, Dumps Body In Dehradun Forest, Arrested
The accused had hidden the body in a room under a quilt for four days before dumping it in the forest using a bike.
Published : March 20, 2026 at 10:38 AM IST
|Updated : March 20, 2026 at 12:01 PM IST
Dehradun: A woman’s decomposed body found in the Manduwala forests under Premnagar police station, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, has led to the arrest of her husband, who allegedly killed her and tried to cover up the crime.
The body, stuffed in a sack, was recovered on March 11 and was estimated to be four to five days old. Due to advanced decomposition, identification was initially difficult, prompting police to launch a detailed investigation.
Based on a complaint by Sub-Inspector Amit Sharma, in-charge of Jhajhra outpost, a case was registered against an unknown person. Eight teams were formed, and police scanned footage from nearly 2,500 CCTV cameras while conducting verification drives across more than 30 slum clusters, using her clothing to suspect her background.
Breakthrough In Case
A key lead emerged during the probe when police received information about a Bihar-based labourer working at a newly constructed house in the Koswali Kothari area. The man lived there with his wife and child, but since Holi, the woman had not been seen, and the child was found with another female labourer.
Police contacted contractor Shivji from Bhauwala, who revealed that the labourer, Ranjeet Sharma, had two wives. His first wife, Roopa, had arrived in February with her child and was staying with him at the construction site.
Murder Plot And Cover-Up
According to police, Ranjeet strangled Roopa on the night of March 5 following a heated argument. She had objected to his speaking with his second wife and was pressuring him to leave her, which led to frequent disputes.
After the murder, he placed the body in a white sack, hid it in a separate room, and covered it with a quilt. As his infant daughter was with him, he could not dispose of the body immediately and kept it concealed for four days.
On March 8, he took a bike and Rs 1,500 from the contractor, claiming he was sending his wife and child to Bihar. The next day, he returned the bike, falsely stating that Roopa had left, while his second wife, Sushila, had arrived.
Confession And Arrest
Police later tracked him down to Bhatowala, where he attempted to flee but was apprehended. During interrogation, he confessed to killing Roopa and dumping her body in the forest.
Background And Motive
Police said Ranjeet had married Roopa in 2009. Four years ago, she eloped and remarried, after which he also married another woman. About a year ago, Roopa returned after leaving her second husband and began living with him again.
On February 23, she arrived in Dehradun with her 11-month-old daughter and started staying at the construction site. Police said she was pressuring Ranjeet to leave his second wife, which led to repeated arguments and ultimately the murder.
According to police, after calling his second wife to Dehradun, Ranjeet handed over the child to her and used the contractor’s bike to dump the body in the forest.
SSP Ajai Singh said the accused believed the body would not be identified, but sustained investigation led to his arrest.
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