Bhagalpur/Patna, March 30: The husband of Jharkhand homemaker Suman Barnawal has been arrested for allegedly masterminding his wife’s murder as he wanted to marry her cousin.

“Naresh Barnawal wanted to eliminate his wife so that he could marry his wife’s cousin Khushboo,” Lakhisarai superintendent of police S. Premlata said today. Premlata was speaking at Halsi police station, located around 16km from the Lakhisarai district headquarters.

Gaya resident Khushboo, the officer added, had helped Naresh, an insurance agent from Amlabad in Bokaro district of Jharkhand, in hatching the conspiracy. She too has been arrested, along with Bharat Singh, a Lakhisarai hoodlum who allegedly carried out the job. “Basant and Naresh have confessed to their involvement in the crime,” the SP added.

Both Naresh and Khushboo, a final-year BA student in Gaya who is the daughter of Suman’s paternal uncle, were present at the Halsi police station.

Suman, 28, was killed after being waylaid by a gang of criminals on the night of March 25 when she, along with Naresh and some relatives, was on way to Jamui after a visit to Rajgir, a tourist destination in Bihar.

Rajesh Barnawal, the brother of Suman, had levelled a similar allegation two days ago before the Gaya city SP. Rajesh and his wife Lalita Devi were accompanying Suman and Naresh when the murder took place.

Inspector-general, Bhagalpur, A.K. Ambedkar, who had been camping in Lakhisarai ever since the murder, told The Telegraph over phone that police had suspected Naresh from the beginning.

“Police interrogated Naresh and Khushboo separately. Naresh admitted that he had conspired to kill his wife and for that he engaged some contract killers. We have already identified all of them and hope that by tomorrow, everything would be cleared,” he said. Police sources said Naresh had allegedly given a supari (contract) of Rs 70,000 to a Dhanbad-based gangster to get his wife eliminated. Senior police officials refused to divulge the name of the criminal, but Lakhisarai SP Premlata said the killer had hired Basant Singh, a local goon, to accomplish the task.

Premlata, quoting Basant, a resident of Sirkhandi village under Halsi police station in Lakhisarai district, said Rs 30,000 was paid by Naresh as advance while the remaining amount was to be paid after the “work” was over. Three unsuccessful attempts were made earlier to kill Suman, the police added.

What has baffled the police is that Basant has no criminal antecedents. Moreover, no firearm has so far been seized by the police.

“Both Naresh and Khushboo admitted that they were in love. Naresh had engineered the killing as a case of road robbery but his statement about the gangrape of his wife by the goons in fact exposed the truth,” said a senior police officer.

Naresh’s family members at Amlabad in Chandankiyari are shocked by the disclosure. Elder brother Lakshman Prasad Barnawal, who had earlier rebutted the allegation that Naresh may have had a hand in the killing, today said the whole case seemed implausible.

“He has never killed a mosquito in his life. How could I then suspect him of killing his own wife,” said Lakshman, adding that if his brother had confessed to his involvement, he would have to believe the police.

He, however, demanded that the police must make public the names of other people involved, including the contract killer in Dhanbad allegedly hired by Naresh.

“I have also heard rumours that Naresh killed his wife because he had taken out a life insurance policy of Rs 50 lakh for her. But I am not aware of any such policy,” said Lakshman.

He said that though they lived in the same house at Amlabad, they had separate kitchens and he was not aware of his brother’s assets or other dealings.

“After the allegation levelled by Suman’s brother Rajesh, I had asked Naresh if there was any truth behind the charges. He denied his involvement and said he was being trapped,” said Lakshman.

“My brother, who graduated in commerce from RSP College, Jharia, about a decade ago and joined LIC as an agent about two years back, was doing good business. His conjugal life after his marriage in 2007 to Suman was also smooth,” said Lakshman, adding that he is saddened about his three-year-old nephew, Prem.

“He first lost his mother and is now deprived of his father’s affections also,” Lakshman said.

Additional reporting by Praduman Choubey