The double murder and alleged gang-rape of two cousins from Budaun, which had triggered nationwide outrage and brought the Uttar Pradesh government under sharp criticism, is now suspected to be a case of honour killing as state police initially believed.

Following persistent demands from political parties and the recommendation of the Uttar Pradesh government for a CBI probe, the Centre had in June issued a notice to the investigative agency to take over the case from the state police.

During its investigations, the CBI had subjected five suspects and the victims’ family members to polygraph tests. The honour killing theory gained credence after the test results revealed that the suspects were telling the truth while the family members were lying. The CBI had also found that the kin of the victims had made false statements to the Uttar Pradesh Police about the suspects’ involvement in the case.

Further buttressing the honour killing theory is the evidence CBI sleuths unearthed that showed that one of the victims was having an affair with a man whom the family had charged with the crime. “Cellphone records of one of the sisters proved that she was in regular contact with one of the suspects,” a district police official privy to the CBI investigation, said.