Meerut court pronounced a death sentence on Wednesday, sentencing Muskaan Rastogi and Sahil Shukla for the 2025 murder of merchant navy officer Saurabh Rajput. The ruling came after 126 hearings and 22 witness statements, a record of exhaustive judicial scrutiny.
The crime unfolded on March 3, 2025, when Rastogi laced Rajput’s food with a sedative at their Indra Nagar home. Shukla entered shortly after, and the pair stabbed Rajput to death before dismembering his body in the bathroom. To mask decomposition, they packed the remains into a large blue plastic drum, filling it with a fresh mix of sand, water, and cement.
Police traced the duo’s movements via call detail records, locating Shukla at the residence during the time of the murder and later at hotels in Shimla and Manali. Shopkeepers testified they sold the blue drum, cement bags, sand, cleavers, and razors to Rastogi and Shukla in the days leading up to the crime. The post‑mortem confirmed Rajput had been stabbed multiple times.
Rastogi’s parents told the court that Rajput “was a very good person,” adding that the death penalty would not be protested. The family had never met her in prison, and the daughter’s whispered claim that “Papa is in the drum” spurred the investigation.
The verdict is already setting the stage for a High Court appeal next month, where the death sentences will be reviewed. The case has drawn attention to the use of concrete-filled drums in clandestine burials and the judicial system’s capacity to handle intricate homicide investigations.