Patna, June 8: Five men who had allegedly been paid by a Supreme Court lawyer to kill his doctor-wife were arrested before they could break into the woman’s house here last evening.

The men were standing near city-based gynaecologist Sarita Sinha’s house at Magistrate Colony in Rajeev Nagar when patrolling cops spotted them. Seeing the police, the accused tried to flee but were caught. A pistol, two magazines, 10 live cartridges and a knife were found on them.

Police claimed that during interrogation, they said Delhi-based Supreme Court lawyer Sanjay Kumar Sinha had paid them a handsome amount to kill his wife Sarita, who runs Tulsi Nursing Home.

All attempts by The Telegraph to contact Sanjay Sinha proved futile. Both his cellphones were switched off.

Sarita lives near the nursing home she runs. Just last month she had complained to the police about suspicious people lurking near her house, after which a team was formed to constantly patrol the area, the police said.

The five people have been identified as Vipulesh Kumar, Pankaj Kumar, Nilesh Kumar, Rakesh Kumar and Rajkumar Sinha. “They are all professional criminals,” Patna senior superintendent of police Manu Maharaj said.

“The accused said their plan was to enter Sarita’s house, kill her and then rob the house to make it look like a case of dacoity and murder. They still haven’t revealed the amount they were paid or promised for the murder. They will be grilled further to find out if the allegations against Sanjay are true. Their cellphones will be checked,” the SSP said.

Sarita Sinha told The Telegraph that her husband, based in Delhi, had been mentally torturing her since 2007. “We got married in 1997. The problems arose in 2007 after he got into an extra-marital relationship. Since then, he has moved away from me and has been torturing me mentally. Threats and abuses from him are common and I have filed many complaints at the local police station. We have a son and a daughter. While my daughter stays with me, he took our son away in 2010. I have no clue where our son is at present. Many a time, strangers have come and stayed at the nursing home on his instructions. I always felt threatened. Now, with him hiring killers, I don’t know what to do,” Sinha said.

The police said both parties have levelled accusations against each other. “They have lodged FIRs under several sections against each other in the past,” the SSP said. The husband had complained of his wife being unfaithful and harassing him.