Vadodara: A 50-year-old woman was allegedly killed by a man with whom she was in a relationship after he became enraged when another person made a video call to her while the two were together at an isolated farm near Guntal village in Waghodia.The accused allegedly struck her on the head with a billhook lying nearby and, a day later, set her body and the farm room on fire to destroy evidence, police said. The incident occurred on Aug 25 but details emerged after the arrest of the accused Vishnu Makwana (41). The victim was identified as Laxmi Rohit.Her charred body was found inside a farm room on Aug 26. The room contained bundles of paddy straw and other agricultural material in which the body had been concealed.According to police, Makwana and Laxmi, both married, worked on a labour contract at the same company in Manjusar and had developed a relationship. Police said their call records showed they had spoken to each other more than 240 times.On Aug 25, Makwana called Laxmi to the Manjusar GIDC area and took her on a motorcycle to an isolated farm near Guntal.While they were together, a man contacted Laxmi through a video call. Makwana got furious when she attended the call and immediately picked up a billhook lying nearby and struck her on the head, killing her. On Aug 26, he set the room on fire in an attempt to ensure that the body could neither be identified nor traced back to him.Vadodara Rural SP Sushil Agrawal said the accused appeared to be confident that police would not be able to trace him, as he had used a stolen motorcycle and stolen mobile phone while committing the crime. The motorcycle had been stolen from Halol and the mobile phone from ManjusarThe victim had left her home on Aug 25 saying she was going out to look for a job but did not return. Her son subsequently reported her missing at Bhadarwa police station. Investigators identified her after finding a purse containing an Aadhaar card near the crime scene, along with spectacles and footwear.The breakthrough came through CCTV footage and technical surveillance. Police found that Laxmi had travelled on a bike with a man. Teams subsequently traced him and, during questioning, he confessed to the murder.Agrawal said the investigation was carried out under Operation Parakram, with teams of the Local Crime Branch, Special Operations Group and Waghodia police using technical surveillance, CCTV footage and human intelligence to identify the victim and track down the accused.Police said there was no sexual assault involved in the incident.Accused has 12 previous theft casesPolice said Makwana has 12 previous cases of theft registered against him. The cases were registered at Bodeli, Waghodia, Kishanwadi, Harni, Fatehganj, Wadi, Jawaharnagar, Gotri, Bapod and Panigate police stations. Makwana, who is married and has children, lives with his parents in Paswa village of Savli taluka. He allegedly used a stolen motorcycle and mobile phone during the murder, apparently believing that their use would make it difficult for investigators to trace him.
