Blue drum case: Court convicts wife, lover for husband's murder
What's the story
A Meerut court has found Muskan Rastogi and her lover Sahil Shukla guilty of murdering her husband Saurabh Rajput, a Merchant Navy officer. Rajput's dismembered body was found stuffed inside a blue drum at his home in March 2025. The verdict was delivered by Meerut district judge Arvind Kumar Mishra after 126 hearings and 22 witness statements. Advocate Krishan Kumar Dubey said, "The court has now held both offenders guilty of murdering Saurabh Rajput and attempting to conceal evidence related."
Crime details
Rajput was drugged before being killed, prosecution claimed
The prosecution alleged that Muskan drugged Rajput before stabbing him with Shukla's help in March 2025.
After the murder, they dismembered Rajput's body and hid it in a blue drum sealed with cement.
The couple then fled to Himachal Pradesh but were arrested two weeks later.
The prosecution argued that the murder was premeditated, citing purchases of a knife, razor, cement, sand, and a large blue drum as evidence.
Punishment plea
Rajput's family demands death sentence for accused
Rajput's family has demanded the harshest punishment for the accused.
His elder brother Rahul said they wanted a death sentence, stating, "We just want one thing: whatever they did to my brother, the same thing should happen to them."
Rahul also highlighted how prolonged court proceedings affected his business and family life. He added that he had been summoned to court 11 times while his mother appeared nine times during the trial.
Infidelity claims
Muskan allegedly continued meeting Shukla after marriage
If the sentence is less than death, Rahul said they would approach higher courts for justice.
Last November, Muskan gave birth to a daughter named Radha at Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial Medical College.
Her in-laws demanded a DNA test to confirm the child's paternity, saying that they would take her responsibility only if it is proven that she was biologically Rajput's child.