Man strangles partner suspecting affair, drives with body for 350 km

Police in Thane have arrested a man who allegedly strangled his partner in Kolhapur due to a suspected affair and then drove her body over 350 km across Maharashtra before being caught.

A man allegedly strangled his partner to death after suspecting her of having an affair with another person and transported the body in a car from Kolhapur to Thane in Maharashtra before being caught, the police said on July 28, Tuesday.

The accused, identified as Prakash Ananda Patil (40), from Shirgaon village in Kolhapur district, has been arrested, they said.

Investigation Into The Gruesome Crime

He was in a relationship with widow Surekha Shivajine Are (40), also from Shirgaon, and suspected her of being involved with another person, senior inspector Vijay Kadbane of Narpoli police station told PTI.

Patil allegedly killed the woman by strangling her at his farm in Shirgaon at around 11 am on Sunday, he said.

After committing the crime, the accused wrapped the body, loaded it into a car, and drove overnight to Kasheli at Bhiwandi in Thane district, located over 350 km from Kolhapur, the official said.

Based on a tip-off from a local in Bhiwandi on Monday morning, the police tracked the vehicle and apprehended Patil.

"We took the accused into custody, seized the car and sent the body for postmortem. A formal FIR (Zero FIR) was registered under section 103(1) (murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita before transferring the case to the jurisdiction concerned for further action," the official said.

The accused's exact plans for disposing of the body were not yet clear, he added.