The rented house at Mainpura from where the bodies of the woman and her son were found. Telegraph picture

Patna, May 29: Patna police today claimed to have cracked the mystery behind the murder of a 25-year-old woman and her minor son at Mainpura under Patliputra police station within 24 hours of the incident.

Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Alok Kumar said that the deceased woman Saroj Devi’s husband Santosh Kumar Singh strangled her to death because of her extramarital affair with a youth.

The SSP said Saroj had developed an intimacy with a youth Sanjeev Kumar, who was a frequent visitor to her rented house on Ram Janki lane. The couple used to quarrel over the visit of Sanjeev to the house in the absence of the husband, he said.

The SSP said on Friday around 10pm, the husband spotted Sanjeev sitting with his wife in the room. Seeing this, he lost his cool and scolded his wife. After having dinner, Santosh tried to persuade her to distance herself from Sanjeev, who owns a small shop in the same locality. But she was not in a mood to relent. She bolted the room from inside and tried to commit suicide. In the process, she murdered her seven-year-old son Sumit Raj.

“When I found my son lying dead, I lost my temper and assaulted her. She suffered injuries on her head after she hit a wooden cot in the room. Then I strangled her to death,” the SSP quoted Santosh as saying.

The SSP said that Santosh became unconscious after the incident. When he gained consciousness, he cooked up a story to save himself from the police and told his landlady in the morning that his house had been ransacked by a gang of armed criminals, who took away cash and ornaments after killing his wife and son.

However, his daughter Shrishti survived. “Santosh has been arrested on the charge of killing his wife in a fit of rage. He will be booked under Section 304 instead of Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code,” the SSP clarified.

The viscera of the boy have been preserved and fingerprints have been collected from the spot. Investigations revealed that Santosh had purchased a plot of land and sold off ornaments for the purpose. But he had kept the empty boxes of ornaments with him, which were shown to the police to substantiate his claim that the house was invaded by robbers.

After initial inquiry, Santosh broke down and revealed the real story. “The police have also detained Sanjeev for interrogation,” an investigating officer said, adding that his role in the incident was being probed.