Woman killed for life insurance money in Lucknow; 3 nabbed, husband still at large

Lucknow: Police have arrested three people in connection with the killing of a woman in connivance with her husband for insurance money merely a year after her marriage.

An officer said it took police 17 months of investigation to crack the case and unearth an expensive buying spree, a Rs 10 lakh loan, and a hefty life insurance — all taken in the name of the woman.

According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Shashank Singh, police on Tuesday arrested Kuldeep Singh, lawyer Alok Nigam, and Deepak Verma for being involved in the murder.

Abhishek Shukla, 32, a resident of Kanchanpur Matiyari, married Pooja Yadav, 28, in April 2022, he said.

It was Shukla's second marriage, done allegedly to skim money off his wife while she was alive, and cash in on the insurance, upon her death, the officer said.

Within a year of the marriage, Shukla took a Rs 10 lakh loan and purchased six vehicles – four cars, two bikes – in instalments in Pooja's name. He also bought a life insurance policy worth Rs 50 lakh for her and began conspiring for her murder and how to make it look like an accident.

On May 20, 2023, Ram Milan, her father-in-law, took Pooja out on the pretext of buying medicine and when they were on a road, a car ran over her, leading to her death, he said.

Police arrested Deepak Verma as the driver of the offending car from the scene of the crime. Shukla and Ram Milan are still at large.

Shukla came under the police's radar in November 2023 when he went to encash his wife's life policy but instead stoked the insurance firm's suspicion.

The firm approached police, which launched an investigation into the matter, the DCP said.

"On examining Verma's phone call details, evidence of his conversation with Pooja's husband Abhishek and father-in-law Ram Milan was found. On strict interrogation, he revealed the truth of the incident and the police solved this case," the officer added.