Jaipur: Crushed under a debt of over Rs 2.5 lakh and struggling with alcohol addiction, a 24-year-old man allegedly murdered his aunt to steal her silver anklets and jewellery, believing the loot would help him repay his loans.Shivdaspura police have arrested the victim’s nephew, Suraj Bairwa, and his brother-in-law, Vinod Bairwa, for the murder of 53-year-old Beena Devi. Her body was recovered from a well near Shivdaspura on June 18.Police said the murder was initially suspected to be the handiwork of someone known to the victim.“In cases of robbery involving jewellery, assailants usually flee after committing the crime and do not attempt to conceal the body. In this case, the body was found far from the victim’s home, which suggested the involvement of someone familiar with her,” said Rajashri Raj Verma, deputy commissioner of police (South).Investigators found that Suraj had carefully planned the crime after learning that his aunt regularly wore heavy silver anklets weighing nearly a kilogram.On June 11, he allegedly lured Beena Devi to the Dhund river area on the pretext of gardening work and attacked her from behind with a spade. After killing her, he severed both her legs to remove the anklets and took away other jewellery.To destroy evidence, the accused first buried the body at the crime scene. However, fearing arrest, he returned the next day with Vinod’s help, exhumed the body, tied it to a heavy stone and dumped it into a 60-foot-deep well, police said.According to investigators, Suraj continued visiting the well after the murder to ensure the body did not float to the surface.Police also found that he had watched crime-related videos online to learn ways to evade detection and hoped suspicion would fall on the victim’s family members because of an ongoing dispute over jewellery distribution within the family.The stolen silver anklets and the motorcycle used in the crime have been recovered. Further investigation is underway.
