Sufia Bano allegedly paid for her husband’s death with a knife when he refused to cut ties with his first wife. DCP (Lucknow South) Mohammad Mushtaq told reporters on Friday that Bano, 52-year-old lover Munna alias Muchhad, and Munna’s associate Mohammad Iqbal alias Basir Ahmed were arrested two days after the corpse surfaced. The murder stemmed from Ramkishore Valmiki’s decision to visit his first wife, Kavita Devi, and send her money, a move Bano viewed as a betrayal after their marriage two years prior.
The killing happened on the night of September 14. Bano left her door unlatched for Munna and Iqbal, who entered while Ramkishore slept. They stabbed him, plastered the floor to hide blood, and hid the bloody broom and weapon. Bano then woke her 16-year-old son, and the four hid the body in a wooden box under a bed.
They moved the body that night. The trio loaded the trunk onto an e-rickshaw and dumped it under a canal bridge near Bhawakhada in Kanakha. Kavita Devi filed a complaint on September 17, triggering an FIR under Section 103 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Police scoured 170 to 180 CCTV feeds to track the e-rickshaw’s route.
Investigators recovered the murder weapon and the e-rickshaw used in the disposal. The juvenile son was apprehended alongside the adults. The case highlights the volatile dynamics of polygamous relationships in Lucknow, where financial entanglements often turn lethal.