Varanasi: Ballia police on Saturday claimed to have solved the double murder of a woman and her blind daughter in Mustafabad village under Rasra police station, arresting three accused, including the woman’s husband, who allegedly conspired with two villagers to kill them and later lodged an FIR to mislead the investigation.The victims were found murdered on Thursday. Police said Ramcheej Gupta (68) feared loss of social reputation due to his wife’s mental illness and daughter’s blindness and conspired to have them killed.Ballia’s ASP (northern) Dinesh Kumar Shukla said Ramcheej himself had lodged an FIR on Sept 17, stating that his wife Manti Devi (65) had been murdered at home on the night of Sept 16 and that his daughter Gauri’s (42) body was later found in a nearby field. After registering a case against unidentified persons under Section 103(1) of the BNS, police started an investigation.During the investigation, the Rasra police, SWAT team and surveillance unit found that Manti had long suffered from mental illness and often left home, while Gauri was blind and dependent on others. Police said Ramcheej feared loss of social reputation and had earlier spoken publicly about killing both of them or ending his own life.Investigators alleged that Ramcheej conspired with villagers Chandan Yadav and Dinesh Gupta. On Sept 16, around 7 pm, the trio allegedly killed Manti and Gauri. They then placed Gauri’s body in a field, cleaned blood from the house and spread the story that unknown persons had committed the murders.
