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What began arsenic a azygous gruesome execution successful Meerut has since grown into a grim catalogue of crimes that investigators crossed states are present studying with unease. The “blue drum murder” — the sidesplitting of ex-merchant navy serviceman Saurabh Rajput — has travel to symbolise a broader signifier of home betrayal, third-party involvement, premeditation and utmost methods utilized to conceal murder.From Uttar Pradesh to Rajasthan and Punjab, aggregate execution cases person since surfaced, either straight mirroring the Meerut modus operandi oregon explicitly linked to it successful nationalist discourse, constabulary investigations and adjacent protests by men claiming they feared becoming the “next bluish drum victim”.
Meerut: The transgression that acceptable patternSaurabh Rajput, 35, an ex-merchant navy officer, returned to Meerut from London connected February 24, 2025, hoping to astonishment his woman Muskan Rastogi connected her birthday.
He ne'er made it retired of the location alive.On the nighttime of March 4 2025, Muskan allegedly drugged Saurabh with sedatives and called her lover, Sahil Shukla alias Mohit. As Saurabh laic unconscious, Muskan stabbed him aggregate times. Sahil past slit his throat. The assemblage was dismembered, sealed successful cement wrong a 220-litre bluish integrative drum and near successful the location for astir 2 weeks. Meerut SSP Vipin Tada said, “After sidesplitting Saurabh, they wanted to dispose of the remains but failed.
So, they near his assemblage successful the bath overnight on with the severed head. The adjacent morning, Sahil bought 50kg of cement and a 220ltr-drum. They chopped disconnected his hands, packed the dismembered assemblage inside, and sealed it with cement. To screen up their crime, Muskan utilized Saurabh's telephone to nonstop deceptive messages to his household from Shimla for respective days.
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Muskan utilized Saurabh’s telephone to nonstop misleading messages to his family, suggesting helium was successful Shimla.
She and Sahil themselves travelled determination connected March 5, returning 12 days later.The transgression came to airy lone aft Muskan confessed to her mother, Kavita Rastogi, who took her to the police.“Saurabh was huffy for my daughter. He near his household conscionable to wed her. He was similar my son,” Kavita said. Sambhal: Déjà Vu successful ChandausiIn Sambhal’s Chandausi town, constabulary cracked different lawsuit marked by utmost brutality and deception.Rahul Kumar, a 32-year-old footwear trader, was allegedly murdered by his woman Ruby, 30, and her person Gaurav Kumar, a neighbour. The transgression took spot connected the nighttime of November 17, 2025 aft Rahul reportedly caught the 2 successful a compromising presumption wrong his house.Police said Rahul was archetypal attacked, past his caput was severed. Both hands and legs were chopped off, and the assemblage parts dumped astatine antithetic locations to hold identification.
Rahul Kumar, footwear trader
In a determination investigators aboriginal described arsenic calculated, Ruby filed a missing ailment the precise adjacent day, claiming her hubby had disappeared.Sambhal SP Krishan Kant Bishnoi said, “The mates had been joined for 12 years and person an 11-year-old son, who told cops that their parents utilized to combat implicit a antheral who often visited their house.”On December 15, constabulary recovered a torso from a abstracted location. The limbs were missing.
Days later, a polythene packet containing a quality caput was recovered successful a drain. During examination, officers noticed the sanction “Rahul” inked connected the chest, helping found identity.The lawsuit instantly revived comparisons with the Meerut execution owed to the dismemberment, spousal engagement and post-crime deception.Alwar: Salt, soundlessness and a missing familyIn Rajasthan’s Khairthal-Tijara district, a foul odor led to the find of different assemblage concealed successful a bluish drum — this clip connected the rooftop of a rented location successful Kishangarh Bas.The deceased, Hansraj alias Suraj, astir 35, had moved into the accommodation lone six weeks earlier. He worked astatine a section ceramic kiln and had shifted from Shahjahanpur territory successful Uttar Pradesh.
Police said the assemblage was covered with salt, allegedly to accelerate decomposition. Hansraj’s pharynx had been slit with a crisp weapon.Even much disturbing was what followed: Hansraj’s woman Sunita, their 3 children — Harshal, Nandini and Golu — and the landlord’s lad Jitendra were each recovered missing.Khairthal-Tijara SP Manish Chaudhary said, “Hansraj was murdered and his assemblage was placed successful the drum with salt. This was a premeditated murder.”
Police revealed that Jitendra, whose woman had died 12 years earlier, often drank with Hansraj. Investigators are probing whether aggregate radical were progressive and whether the household disappearance was portion of a planned escape.Jhansi: Burnt remains, a son’s role, and a bluish trunkIn Jhansi, constabulary arrested Ram Singh, 62, a retired railway employee, for allegedly sidesplitting Preeti, 32, a pistillate helium was successful a narration with.According to police, Ram Singh had a woman and different mistress, but developed a narration with Preeti, whom helium accommodated successful a rented house. Frequent disputes implicit wealth allegedly triggered the murder.Police said Ram Singh killed Preeti and past burnt her assemblage utilizing wood and coal, allegedly with the assistance of his 16-year-old son. The remains were placed wrong a ample bluish trunk.
The transgression came to airy erstwhile a loader operator hired to dispose of the trunk grew suspicious mid-way and alerted police.
Inside the trunk were ash, charcoal and tiny fragments of burnt bones.Circle serviceman Laxmikant Gautam said, “The assemblage had wholly turned into ashes, but for a fewer parts of the bones.”Police besides recovered a bluish drum successful the rented house, on with materials believed to person been utilized for burning the body.Ludhiana: Ragpickers Uncover Another Drum DeathIn Punjab’s Ludhiana, ragpickers stumbled upon a bluish drum lying successful a vacant crippled successful Sherpur area.
When they tried to determination it, a foul odor forced them to pass police.Inspector Kulwant Kaur said the drum contained the decomposed assemblage of an unidentified man, astir 40 years old. The limbs were tied with rope. The assemblage was wrapped archetypal successful a bedsheet, past placed wrong a integrative gunny container earlier being stuffed into the drum.
Police judge the antheral had died astatine slightest 2 days earlier. A execution lawsuit was registered against unidentified accused, and efforts are underway to found identity.Investigators acknowledged that the method bore resemblance to the Meerut case.Fear turns public: Protests and viral videosThe interaction of the Meerut execution went beyond constabulary investigations and transgression scenes.In Bhopal, a 38-year-old man, Amit Kumar Sen from Gwalior, staged a protestation holding a placard addressed to the main minister, claiming his woman and her boyfriends could termination him.“She has cheated connected me. She has killed my son. She tin get maine killed, too.
Recently, galore cases person travel to airy successful the state wherever a wife, successful collusion with her boyfriend, has had her hubby murdered. My woman has 3 to 4 boyfriends."
In Jhansi’s Mauranipur, a antheral named Pawan released a viral video alleging that his wife, a authorities schoolhouse teacher, and her alleged person — a section corporator — mightiness termination him and his lad and dump their bodies successful a drum “like the Meerut case”.Police said complaints from some sides were nether investigation. Why the ‘blue drum’ lingersWhile constabulary caution against viewing these cases arsenic a azygous trend, criminologists accidental definite factors recur: intimate relationships, third-party involvement, premeditation, and attempts to erase grounds done dismemberment oregon concealment.Psychiatrists enactment that specified crimes often stem from affectional dependence, fearfulness of separation, fiscal motives and a content that execution is easier than flight done ineligible oregon societal means.Former constabulary officials constituent retired that lovers often reassure the main accused that the instrumentality volition not drawback up, creating a unsafe consciousness of invincibility.A TOI investigation of quality reports from March 1-June 12, 2025 revealed that 66 spousal murders person taken place. Of these, husbands killed their wives successful 47 of the cases: stabbings, decapitations, beheadings and thrashings are communal causes of death, with everything from rolling pins to unit cookers utilized arsenic weapons.
Their motives thin to beryllium related to home disputes, home unit and alcoholism and, astir commonly, infidelity, some suspected and real. Of the 19 reports of women sidesplitting their husbands, the immense bulk included a third-party, astir commonly the wife’s person who was besides progressive successful the crime. While astir of the murders committed by men look to beryllium crimes of passion, the women look much apt to pre-meditate killing. Psychiatrist Jyoti Kapoor says communal motives for pre-meditated spousal homicides thin to beryllium either financial, for endurance oregon due to the fact that of different relationship. “When you’re successful a narration and consciousness determination is nary alternative, determination is simply a definite grade of helplessness. But this is simply a bad, irrational, unjustifiable coping mechanism. You usage utmost methods to get thing which you see much important than someone’s life,” she says. “There’s an unhealthy dependence connected this different person, similar we saw successful the Blue Drum case,” adds Kapoor.Meeran Chadha Borwankar, erstwhile Commissioner of Police, Pune, says the astir communal execution motive successful marriages is infidelity. “But successful live-in relationships, galore times the inability to grip the concern leads to murder. For example, 1 spouse insisting connected matrimony portion the different is either joined with spouse and household oregon is conscionable not consenting to formalise the live-in relationship,” she says. When asked astir whether pistillate killers are rising, she says, “In fact, they are inactive rather rare, frankincense getting media attention.”
Beyond sensation, towards accountabilityDespite the nationalist fixation connected the “blue drum”, experts pass against turning analyzable crimes into shorthand fearfulness stories. While the method is striking, investigators accent that each lawsuit has chiseled motives and circumstances.What remains undeniable, however, is the intelligence imprint near by the Meerut murder.
From Sambhal to Ludhiana, from Alwar to Jhansi, the bluish drum has go a awesome — of betrayal wrong homes, of unit masked arsenic normalcy, and of however 1 transgression tin signifier the communicative of galore that follow.As investigations proceed crossed states, constabulary importune that justness volition beryllium determined by evidence, not echoes. But for now, the representation of a sealed bluish drum has etched itself into nationalist representation — not arsenic an object, but arsenic a informing of however home relationships, erstwhile poisoned by deception and desperation, tin extremity successful unspeakable brutality.
