Belagavi ex-armyman murder: A minor bike accident, fatal poisoning & Rs 2-cr insurance ‘plot’

Nine persons held for alleged murder framed as accidental death for Rs 2 cr insurance claim. Accused include deceased’s wife, her alleged lover, medical personnel & forensic staff.

Sandeep Manjargi with his wife Suma, accused of murdering him | X/@HateDetectors

New Delhi: For months, the death of retired army officer Sandeep Manjargi looked like a cruel twist of fate: a bike accident followed by a fatal heart attack. But Karnataka Police now allege that the 46-year-old was poisoned in hospital by his wife and her paramour as part of a plot to get Rs 2 crore of accident insurance.

The police have found medical personnel and forensic lab staff also involved in the plot, and up to nine persons were arrested last week for the alleged murder and subsequent cover-up, including the former army officer’s wife and her alleged lover. An FIR has been filed.

The deceased took voluntary retirement from the Indian Army in December 2023 to settle in his native village of Ghodageri in Belagavi district.

According to the police, it was Pundalik Dombar, alleged to be the lover of Sandeep’s wife Suma, who revealed the murder plot after Suma refused to share the insurance money with him.

Addressing a press conference Monday, Superintendent of Police (SP) K. Ramarajan said: “Initially, it looked like the death was due to a road accident. The two (accused) had planned to claim the insurance money and had earlier decided to share it. But Suma refused to do so after the murder. That is when Pundalik decided to reveal the plot.”

The plot

According to the police, soon after Sandeep retired, he started talking to people in his village about business ideas. That was when he met with Pundalik, who ran an eatery there. A few months later, the two decided to open an eatery together.

While Sandeep and Pundalik became business partners, Suma developed a relationship with the latter. As the two grew closer over the course of two years, they decided to eliminate Sandeep, the police said.

“Over the last one year, Pundalik and Suma started to buy insurance—two schemes from SBI and HDFC Bank—in Sandeep’s name, amounting to Rs 2 crore,” a senior police officer told ThePrint, adding that the sum could be claimed in case of Sandeep’s death by accident.

On 13 March, Sandeep actually happened to meet with a minor accident while riding his bike that skidded on the road. He sustained minor injuries.

“This is when Pundalik and Suma decided to orchestrate the murder and portray his death as a result of the road accident,” said the officer. “Sandeep was taken to a government hospital first and then shifted to a private one. With the help of some hospital staff, the accused first gave him rat poison via saline. The next day, they also gave him four sleeping pills. Sandeep fell unconscious and subsequently died of a heart attack, which was recorded by the hospital as the cause of death.”

He was declared dead on 15 March.

Police officials further said that doctors at the hospital, however, grew suspicious and informed Sandeep’s family that an autopsy should be conducted. When Suma and Pundalik found out, they allegedly bribed the staff of a forensic lab in Belagavi to manipulate the post-mortem and forensic reports and ensure they did not mention any toxic substances.

The police added that up to Rs 3 lakh were paid to manipulate the report and that Suma distributed the money to forensic officials.

SP Ramarajan said the initial forensic report indicated no traces of poison and attributed Sandeep’s death to a heart attack.

By early June, Suma and Pundalik had fallen out over the insurance money and he uploaded a WhatsApp status claiming he knew what had happened to Sandeep and would reveal it. The status became viral in the village, and eventually reached the police.

“When Pundalik was brought in for questioning, he confessed and it became clear that several people were involved in the conspiracy,” Ramarajan told the media.

(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)