Sundargarh: A woman allegedly strangled her husband to death with the help of her paramour and an associate over an alleged illicit relationship at Hari Om Colony in Shankara area of this town Tuesday night, police said. The victim was identified as Dhruba Kerketta, 62, a native of Jaisar village under Subdega block and a retired head clerk of Subdega block office.
The accused were identified as Urmila Kerketta, 36, her lover Subrat Majhi, 24, of Tasladihi under Sadar police limits, and associate Bimal Dandasena, 34. Sundargarh Town police registered a case (349/2025) under Sections 103(1)/3(5) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and produced them in court. With bail denied, a magistrate sent them to Sundargarh jail, SDPO Nirmal Mohapatra said. During interrogation, the trio admitted to killing Dhruba, Town police said.
According to IO Bhabagrahi Jena, Urmila had married Dhruba in 2013. Dhruba had been staying in a rented accommodation in Sundargarh for the past 18 months with Urmila and their only son. There, Urmila developed a relationship with Subrat. Police said Subrat would often visit Urmila at night after Dhruba goes to sleep. Dhruba, who used to take sleeping pills at night, grew suspicious, confronted his wife and warned Subrat over the issue. Finding no solution to the issue, a sexagenarian Dhruba decided to move to his native village along with his family, and also stayed there for four months. When Urmila refused to stay there, their son was sent to a hostel. Subrat later called Urmila, but was caught and apologised to Dhruba, promising not to call again. Police said Urmila then plotted with her lover to kill her husband so that they could live together. On Tuesday morning, the couple engaged in a bitter quarrel over phone calls between Urmila and Subrat, police said. Dhruba was allegedly strangled by the accused late Tuesday night. Investigators said Urmila, had told her lover, Subrat, that her husband had warned her not to use her phone anymore. Acting on a plan, Subrat and his friend Bimal arrived on a motorcycle at midnight at Urmila’s house. While Dhruba was asleep, the trio allegedly strangled Dhruba. After the killing, Subrat and Bimal fled the spot.
The next morning, Urmila informed Dhruba’s brothers that he had fallen ill after taking sleeping pills and died at the hospital during the night. When the family arrived from their village, they noticed injury marks on Dhruba’s neck and suspected foul play.
His brother, Saroj Kerketta, lodged a complaint at Sundargarh Town police station. Police detained Urmila for questioning and later picked up Subrat and Bimal from near Tasaladihi. Sundargarh SDPO Nirmal Mohapatra, Town police IIC Preeti Manjari Menduli, and a forensic team visited the crime scene, seized Dhruba’s body, and sent it to the DHH for postmortem.
Police said Urmila initially claimed her husband died from an overdose of sleeping pills and even attempted to mislead investigators. However, call records from the previous night and subsequent interrogation led police to uncover the murder plot
