Hazaribag: Police arrested the wife of Central Coalfields Ltd employee Mangalesh Pal alias Happy and her alleged lover on Monday, and detained a juvenile allegedly involved in the crime, following Pal’s murder.Police identified the accused as Sonali Kumari alias Nitu and Kaushik Kumar Nonia.The case surfaced on Oct 18 after villagers alerted Giddi police about a suspected robbery at Mangalesh’s house in Giddi. Police were told that robbers had tied up Sonali and hacked Mangalesh to death with a sharp-edged weapon.On the directions of Hazaribag SP Aman Kumar, a special investigation team led by Barkagaon SDPO Amit Anand was formed. Forensic, fingerprint and dog squad teams examined the scene and collected scientific and technical evidence.“Technical evidence and scientific investigation helped us crack the case within 24 hours,” Anand said.Police alleged that Sonali, Kaushik and the juvenile had planned the murder. They allegedly attacked Mangalesh with sharp-edged weapons, wiped bloodstains and fabricated the robbery account. Sonali was allegedly tied up to mislead investigators.The suspected motive was to secure Mangalesh’s CCL job on compassionate grounds and enable Sonali to marry Kaushik, her maternal cousin, police said.Giddi police registered a case under relevant Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections following a complaint by Mangalesh’s sister.Police recovered a bloodstained dauli, a knife, a cleaning cloth, two mobile phones, burnt phone remnants, and bloodstained clothes and slippers allegedly linked to the accused.
