Unearthing a Four-Year-Old Chilling Crime
In a shocking turn of events that has sent shudders down the spine of residents, the Ahmedabad Crime Branch and Surat's Kosamba police have cracked a four-year-old multi-murder mystery. What initially appeared to be a routine domestic dispute turned into a horrific tale of deception, betrayal, and a meticulously hidden triple murder. During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022, three closely related women were systematically murdered, and their bodies were buried within the confines of a residential courtyard, only to be uncovered years later due to a domestic fallout between the perpetrators.
The dark secret would have perhaps remained buried forever under layers of concrete had the primary accused not approached law enforcement authorities with an ulterior motive. In a bid to settle personal scores and legally implicate his estranged wife, the husband walked straight into a police trap, inadvertently triggering a deep-dive forensic investigation that dismantled his fabricated narrative and brought the ghastly truth to light.
The Execution of the Heinous Plot
According to police disclosures, the chilling sequence of events dates back to October 2022. The primary victim, 70-year-old Shantaben Vasava, lived alone in her house in the Wadfaliya locality of Kosamba. Her son-in-law, Madhavdas, along with his wife Urmila, plotted to eliminate the elderly woman. Late one night while she was asleep, the couple suffocated her to death using a pillow. Following the murder, they devised a sinister plan to conceal the corpse and evade suspicion completely.
Taking advantage of the chaotic aftermath of the pandemic period, the couple fled to Walthera village in Dholka taluka of Ahmedabad. They misled neighbors and extended family members by falsely claiming that the elderly woman had passed away due to natural illness at a hospital and had been cremated directly from there. With no immediate witnesses or complaints, the crime remained undetected for years.
Concealing Bodies Inside Cement-Filled Drums
To ensure that no evidence ever surfaced, the cunning duo resorted to extreme measures. They placed Shantaben's mortal remains inside a large plastic drum, pouring three bags of cement and water into it to seal the remains permanently and prevent any foul odor from escaping. After keeping the drum hidden inside the house for a few months, they dug a deep pit in the backyard courtyard when the opportunity arose.
They buried the cement-sealed drum deep inside the earth and covered the top with a thick layer of concrete slab, making it look like a regular, paved flooring. For four long years, the grim secret lay undisturbed beneath the concrete floor, leading everyone to believe the elderly woman had simply vanished or died of natural causes.
A Domestic Fallout Triggers the Confession
The facade began to crumble when marital discord tore the couple apart. Urmila and Madhavdas had been living separately for about nine months after Urmila walked out, taking their son, valuable jewelry, and cash with her. Consumed by anger and a desire for vengeance, Madhavdas hatched a plan to frame his wife and her cousin for the murder.
He approached the Ahmedabad police with a formal application accusing Urmila of murdering her grandmother and burying the body inside the house. Expecting the police to arrest his wife, Madhavdas was unaware that his trap would snap shut on him. When the Crime Branch initiated a thorough preliminary probe, severe inconsistencies appeared in his statements, shifting the focus of suspicion entirely onto him.
Excavation and Forensic Breakthrough
Confronted with mounting discrepancies during rigorous interrogation, Madhavdas eventually broke down and confessed that he, along with his wife Urmila, had murdered Shantaben. Acting on his confession, a joint police team escorted the accused to the Kosamba property. Utilizing pickaxes and shovels, investigators broke through the concrete slab and excavated the earth to a depth of four to five feet, finally recovering the remains inside the drum.
The Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team collected skeletal remains, skulls, bones, and hair samples from the site. Family members positively identified the remains based on clothing and bangles. Furthermore, during sustained questioning, the accused couple also confessed to killing two other female relatives, transforming the single-murder investigation into a wider triple-murder probe.
