Blue drum murder: Rented house stays sealed even as owner tries to get it back

Mother of Saurabh Rajput (2nd from right) and brother (2nd from left) after the Meerut court sentenced Muskan Rastogi and Sahil Shukla to death for murdering Saurabh.(ANI Photo)

The two-room house in Meerut’s Brahmpuri area where 26-year-old Muskan Rastogi lived on rent with her six-year-old daughter has been locked since her husband Saurabh Rajput’s dismembered body was found inside a blue drum filled with liquid concrete.

Muskan and her friend Sahil Shukla, 28, were sentenced to death for the murder of Rajput by a Meerut court two weeks ago. They are lodged in Chaudhary Charan Singh District Jail in Meerut.

With their conviction, the owner of the house, 72-year-old Ompal Singh, now wants the police to unseal a portion of his property locked since March last year.

“After the incident, the police sealed the portion of the house that Saurabh and Muskan had rented. I had earlier approached the police to get it opened, but was told that the house would remain sealed since the case was pending in the court. I was waiting for the court hearings to conclude. Finally, the verdict came about two weeks ago… For the past few days, I have been making rounds of the Senior Superintendent of Police’s office and the Brahampuri police station, requesting them to lift the seal as the court has delivered its verdict,” said Singh, who lives in another portion of the building on the ground floor.

Ompal, who worked in the handloom business, has asked Saurabh’s family to take away his belongings. “I have asked his family to come and collect them,” he said.

According to Ompal, Saurabh had rented the two-room set on the ground floor of his house in 2022. After staying for around a year, he left India, and since then Muskan has lived there with her daughter. “Since we never had the requirement of those two rooms, and got rent on time, we never asked Muskan to vacate the place,” he added.

Saurabh’s brother, Rahul, said he recently visited the local Brahampuri police station along with Ompal. “I told the house owner and the police that I am willing to collect my brother’s belongings. However, an inventory of all the items must be prepared, with one copy kept by the police and another by the house owner. The entire process should also be videographed,” he said, adding that he would collect the belongings from the house once the police and Ompal agreed on the arrangements. “I want the entire process to be transparent so that no one can make any allegations after the house is unsealed,” Rahul said.

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Saurabh, 29, and Muskan married in 2016. They were in love and eloped together to pressure their families into agreeing to their marriage. The gruesome murder took place on the night of March 3 last year, when Muskan allegedly laced Saurabh’s food with intoxicants, leaving him unconscious. She then called Sahil, who lived a short distance from Muskan’s house, and the two were in a relationship. The two then allegedly stabbed Saurabh to death, cut his body into pieces, and sealed his remains in a drum of liquid cement, which the police said was bought in advance.

Two days later, Muskan locked up the rented house, dropped her daughter at her mother’s nearby home, and left for Himachal Pradesh with Sahil. She returned on March 17 and was arrested.

On October 14, a Meerut court sentenced Muskan and Sahil to death for killing Saurabh Rajput. The two have now approached the Allahabad High Court challenging their death sentence. A division bench of the High Court is likely to hear the matter next week. In their appeal, the two described the trial court’s verdict as illegal and arbitrary and urged the High Court to acquit them of all charges. Their appeal also contends that the prosecution failed to establish its case beyond reasonable doubt.