Adopted daughter and her boyfriend were desperate to kill the elderly couple

The adopted daughter and her boyfriend were desperate to kill the elderly Champati couple, Shankar (72) and Seema (64), since last three months and last attempt was made during the last week. “Airshwarya had offered watermelon laced with sedative to Champati couple last week. However, the couple though felt drowsy but did not fall unconscious which foiled their plan,” informed Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Crime Branch Nilesh Bharne on Tuesday. 

Accused Mohammad Ikhlaq Mushtaq Khan (23), a resident of Waddhamna and Aishwarya Champati (23), were in relationship since their school days. Aishwarya’s father was killed in an accident when she was just six-month-old. Since then, the Champati couple adopted her. However, the relationship of the father and the daughter went sour when Shankar knew about Aishwarya’s relationship with Ikhlaq. Shankar opposed to Aishwarya and Ikhlaq's marriage as the boy belonged to a different religion. Shankar was used to target Aishwarya on every small issue and also threatened her to disown from the property worth more than rupees one crore. 

Ikhlaq and Aishwarya then hatched a conspiracy to eliminate the couple in cold blood. They planned to murder the couple and create a scene of theft. Aishwarya, an Information Technology (IT) Engineer and an employee at an IT firm, told Ikhlaq and that the police could reach them by tracing technical evidence including Call Detail Records (CDR) and interaction on social media accounts. Hence, they were contacting each other only through WhatsApp.  

As their first plan failed, Ikhlaq got more sleeping pills from a doctor and given to Aishwarya. She mixed the pills with watermelon and offered to the couple Sunday at 12.30 pm. When the couple fall unconscious, Aishwarya signaled Ikhaq to come her house. As Shankar's dog started barking on seeing the strangers, Aishwarya handled the canine and ensured trouble free entry of Inkhlaq in the house and given her a sharp-weapon which Shankar was using for cutting coconut. 

When Ikhlaq entered the house, Aishwarya went out of the house on her moped. Ikhlaq killed Shankar and Seema with the sharp-weapon and fled the spot. 

Under the guidance of DCP Bharne, DCP Vivek Masal, ACP Sudhir Nandanwar, PI Santosh Khandekar, API Prahsant Chougule, API Gorakh Kumbhar and staff including ASI Vasanta Choure, Rajkumar Deshmukh, Shriniwas Mishra, Sunil Choudhary, Naresh Revatkar, Naresh Sahare, Suresh Thakur, Rajesh Tenguriya, Ashish Thakre, Amit Patre, Ravindra Barai, Mangesh Madav, Sushil Shriwas, Rahul Ingole, Ashish Devre, Deviprasad Dubey, Rajesh Sengar and others have made the arrest. 

A phone call led to breakthrough 

After visiting the spot and questioning Aishwarya, the police first came to a conclusion that the couple could have been murdered by thief as gold ornaments and cash was missing from the house. However, the needle of suspicion points to Aishwarya when the police checked her mobile phone as all the WhatsApp calls were deleted and her Facebook account was also deleted. The police then seized her mobile phone and studied her Call Detail Records (CDR) and got a clue about Ikhlaq as Aishwarya had made a phone call to him in the afternoon. 

The police then swooped on the house of Ikhlaq on Sunday night. As Ikhlaq was not present in the house, the police confirmed his involvement in the murder. He was arrested late night from the area. The police then grilled Aishwarya and Ikhlaq who spilled the beans and confessed for the murder.