A goods vehicle driver, believed to have died due to an overdose of sleeping pills around two months ago, was allegedly murdered, the police have revealed.

Following a tip, the body of 38-year-old Ishitaq Ahmed, a resident of DJ Halli, buried at the Muslim burial ground on Tannery Road, was exhumed on Monday for post mortem. The assistant commissioner, the sub-divisional magistrate, the local police and a team of doctors were present at the graveyard.

According to the police, Ahmed was murdered 58 days ago by his wife Ashrafunnisa, a homemaker, her paramour Saif, 25, and his two friends Mansur, 26, and Matheen, 25.
Ahmed had married Ashrafunnisa five years ago and the couple have a four-year-old daughter and a one-and-half-year-old son.

They fought frequently as Ashrafunnisa wanted to lead a lavish life while Ahmed’s earning were meagre. Ahmed even parted ways with his parents and stayed separately with his wife due to differences of opinion, the police said.

Ashrafunnisa was attracted to her neighbour Saif and had an affair with him. He would visit her whenever Ahmed was away. Incidentally, one day Ahmed caught his wife and Saif red-handed at his house and asked them to end the affair. But the duo continued their relationship secretly, the police said.

Ashrafunnisa hatched a conspiracy to murder Ahmed and roped in Saif who in turn took the help of Mansur and Matheen and eliminated Ahmed.

Recently, differences cropped up between Saif and his friends as they started blackmailing him for money and one of them revealed the truth about Ahmed’s murder in the neighbourhood.

Kaleem, a neighbour of Ahmed who had heard about the murder, said that Ahmed regularly consumed a sleeping tablet at night. On the day of the murder, Ashrafunnisa mixed five sleeping tablets in glass of a juice and offered it to her husband. Ahmed drank it and also took a sleeping pill.

As per plan, Saif, Mansur and Matheen entered the house and tied up Ahmed’s hands and legs with a dupatta. Later, Saif repeatedly kicked Ahmed in the privates and strangled him. The trio then left the house, Kaleem told the police.

Ashrafunnisa later cooked up a story that Ahmed had died due to an overdose of sleeping pills. The family members believed her and buried the body without a post mortem, Kaleem added.

Ahmed’s father Abdul Hameed has submitted a petition before the Commissioner of Police Raghavendra Auradkar seeking action against the four.

The police took the four into custody and they have reportedly confessed to the crime.