Gujarat: Missing Mumbai woman’s skeleton found year after murder in Amreli district

RAJKOT: Sinister murder of a 31-year-old Mumbai woman, who was missing for the past one year, has been unravelled after her skeleton was found from a farm in Selana village of Amreli district’s Savarkundla taluka.
Her husband Ashish Ukani, who confessed to killing her over money dispute in October last year led the cops to the crime scene where her skeleton was dug out from a four foot deep pit he had dug. Ashish is a native of Selana village where his father is engaged in farming.
Ashish, who has been living in Mira Road of Thane district, had married Nikita in February last year.Nikita was his second wife. His first wife and two children live in Surat and Ashish used to shuttle between two cities.
“Ashish trades in ready-made garments and does business in Surat, Mumbai and other cities too,” said Rajendra Chandankar, investigating officer, Kashimira police station in Thane district.
Investigation revealed that Ashish and Nikita had conned a resident of Andheri of Rs 15 lakh last year and the couple fled to Surat after the victim Litesh Sheth lodged a complaint against them. They were living in Surat’s Mota Varachha area for a year. Chandankar said the duo have cheated several people of big sums in Mumbai and Thane too.
In the meantime, Nikita’s brother who has a shop in Borivili in Mumbai, lodged a missing persons complaint with Kashimira police station, after he failed to contact or trace her.
Police, which was already on the look-out for the duo in the cheating case, got a tip-off that they were living in Surat. On October 11, they detained Ashish from his house in Hari Krishna building and took him to Mumbai for questioning.
When they grilled him over the whereabouts of his wife Nikita, Ashish revealed that he had murdered and buried her body in his native village.
On October 15, a team of Kashimira police station cops came to Amreli and met district superintendent of police Nirlipt Rai who directed Vanda police station to probe the matter.
On Friday, Ashish took them to the farm, which was adjacent to his father’s, where the body was extricated in the presence of sub-divisional magistrate, mamlatdar and other police officials.
Threw her into well after drinking binge
Rajkot: Nikita’s murder was a bitter fall-out of the frequent quarrels with Ashish over the Rs 15 lakh the couple had conned from the Andheri resident. After they started living in Surat, Nikita demanded a share of the cash, but Ashish refused to give her any money. Also, from the Rs 15 lakh, they purchased a brand new Tata Nexon car.
On October 13, 2019, they started from Surat for his native Selana village and reached Amreli on October 14. However, they stayed at a hotel near Amreli bus depot and late in the night, the duo went to Ashish’s farm in Selana. Here, they consumed a lot of alcohol. During the drinking binge, Nikita again started fighting with Ashish over money and in a fit of rage, Ashish picked her up and threw her into a well in his farm. As she did not know how to swim, Nikita drowned.
Ashish himself went inside the well
After she died, Ashish got scared that he would be caught for her murder. He decided to dispose of the body and entered the well himself by tying a rope to his car, said Vanda police station’s Bhagirathsinh Jadeja. Ashish tied Nikita’s body on his back and brought it out of the well. He then dug a four-foot deep pit in a farm adjacent to his father’s in Selana and buried the body there. After that, he didn't even pay his father a visit and drove straight to Surat, said Jadeja. Police found pieces of a saffron-colour kurti and black leggings on the skeletal remains and have sent these for forensic examination.Vanda police have booked Ashish for murder and destruction of evidence.