Bannerghatta police arrested a postgraduate student on charge of poisoning her two-timing fiancé with the help of her boyfriend.
Psychology student Saumya Saloni (24) met N. Nitish, an accountant with an IT company, on Facebook two years ago and soon they got engaged.
However, the romance flagged after Saumya grew displeased with Nitish’s exchanges with many girls on Facebook. Fed up of their frequent fights, he texted her saying she was not the girl in his life.
A seething Saumya, the police said, searched the Internet for a murder plan and stumbled upon ammonium sulphate. She discussed the plan with Parshwanath Malagatti, an MBA student in Belgaum who was her boyfriend, and persuaded him to get the chemical.
She then called up Nitish and asked him to take her on a ride on October 21. They met near Konanakunte on Kanakpura Road and headed towards Bannerghatta on his two-wheeler even as Malagatti followed them surreptitiously.
When Saumya and Nitish reached Shilindra Doddi in Bannerghatta, she allegedly offered him vodka spiked with the lethal chemical and playfully blindfolded him on the pretext of giving him a surprise. She then texted Malagatti, who overpowered him. The two, police said, strangled Nitish with her dupatta and battered his head with a rock to ensure death.
The duo dumped Nitish’s body in a gorge, took his wallet and cellphone, and hid his bike before heading for home.
Alibi attempt
On the way, Saumya sent a couple of messages from Nitesh’s phone to hers saying, “I am finally with Maya,” before dismantling it and flinging the parts in the forest area. Thereafter, Saumya went to her place and Malagatti left for Belgaum.
The murder came to light when Nitish’s body was discovered by passersby. It then emerged that Nitish’s parents had filed a missing complaint. Police investigations led to Saumya who initially denied any involvement and showed the text messages. However, when she was told her cellphone was also operational in the same area, she confessed and implicated Malagatti also, Bannerghatta Police Inspector B.K. Kishore Kumar told The Hindu .
The police arrested the two on murder charge and remanded them in judicial custody.
