Woman’s body in barrel: Husband held

Surat: In a chilling case cracked by Bhestan police, 44-year-old Sanjay Patel has been arrested for the murder of his wife, Dharmishtha Chauhan. The breakthrough came after police traced a batch number on the drum in which Chauhan’s body was found encased in cement and concrete. The barrel was found in a remote area of Bhanodra village on July 2.
The grim discovery was made in Bhanodra village on July 2, necessitating the extraction of the body from the drum at a local hospital.
Explaining the challenges they faced, inspector V L Patel said, “The body was found stuffed in a drum abandoned in a deserted place. The body had decomposed, making it difficult to identify the victim. The drum bore the name of GACL company and had a batch number. We contacted the company and tracked down the party they sold the barrel of chemical to. The party said they had used the chemical and sold it to a scrap dealer, who pointed us in the direction of Sanjay Patel.”
Sanjay, who works as a security guard, confessed to have killed his wife over suspicions of infidelity, said the inspector.
Given the gravity of the case, Surat police deployed six teams from Bhestan police and seven from the crime branch, reviewing over 250 CCTV cameras and conducting searches across 50 societies and 20 construction sites.
“Chauhan, originally from Borsad in Anand district, was married to Dharmishtha for a decade. He strangled her with a dupatta following a heated argument, then concealed her body in the drum for two days after filling it with cement and concrete,” the cop said.