MP: Man who `killed’ girlfriend and posted videos with body held from Rajasthan

PTI, Nov 19, 2022, 8:51 PM IST

Representative Image (Source: Getty Images)

Jabalpur: The police have arrested a 29-year-old man who allegedly killed his girlfriend at a resort here and posted videos on social media with her dead body, a senior official said on Saturday.

The chilling crime in Jabalpur had come to light only a few days before Aaftab Poonawala’s arrest by Delhi police for allegedly murdering his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar in May.

Hemant Bhadane, native of Nashik in Maharashtra, was arrested from Swaroopganj police station area of Rajasthan when he was on his way to Ajmer on Friday, Additional Director General of Police (Jabalpur zone) Umesh Joga said.

Victim Shilpa Jharia (21) was found dead at a Jabalpur resort on November 8. Bhadane had posted on Instagram chilling videos of her lying dead in a room with a bedsheet covering her body, an official said.

In one of the videos, the accused is seen lifting the bedsheet covering the victim’s face and telling her not to “betray” him, he said.

The police also seized the woman’s mobile phone, ATM card, gold jewellery, and Rs 1.52 lakh cash from the accused, the official said.

The accused was identified through fingerprints collected from the crime scene, IG Joga said.

Using the National Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS), it was established that Bhadane’s fingerprints matched with those in the police record at Nashik, he said.

According to the Maharashtra police, Bhadane was a habitual offender with 37 cases, including that of cycle theft, to his name, the official said.

A taxi driver told police that Bhadane had withdrawn money from an ATM at Lakhandaun in Seoni district.

With the help of the banks, the police were able to track his movements as he was using his girlfriend’s ATM card to withdraw money while on the run, the IG said.

The accused evaded arrest by changing his location every 12 hours, he said.

The accused was having an affair with the victim and was unhappy about her relationship with other men after he found some photos on WhatsApp, IG Joga said.

Bhadane and Jharia had presented fake Aadhaar cards and checked into the resort under the names `Abhijeet Patidar’ and `Rakhi Mishra’, he said.

The death came to light when there was no order for breakfast from the couple on November 8, and nobody opened the room’s door despite knocking.

The staff unlocked the door with a master key and found the woman’s blood-soaked body. Her throat and wrist had been slit. Two blades were found at the scene, Joga said.

The victim was a resident of Bhoka Deori village in Jabalpur district, the official said.

A case under sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) of Indian Penal Code has been registered and Jabalpur police are conducting further probe, the IG said.