An extramarital affair could be behind the murder of an army jawan killed while returning to his in-law’s home with his newly-wed wife during Dussehra.

The police have arrested the man who allegedly killed him 15 days ago. Vikas Kumar was visiting his in-law’s place for Dussehra. He was returning with his wife Vibha Rani from a fair on the evening of October 13 when he was shot dead in front of his in-law’s home in New Mubarakpur area under the jurisdiction of Sahpur police station. The couple had married on May 12. Vikas hailed from Vidupur village of Vaishali district.

“The police had constituted a special team to probe the man’s killing. During interrogation, the police identified the killer Sanjeev Kumar alias Kaju and his accomplice Dilip Kumar. Their names also came in the FIR lodged by Vikas’ in-laws. The police nabbed the duo on Thursday evening and recovered two country-made pistols, four live cartridges and two cellphones. The men gave some shocking details during interrogation,” Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manu Maharaj said.

The police said Sanjeev had a long-term affair with Vibha before she married. “Sanjeev, during initial probe, said he was in love with Vibha and both were in a long-term relationship. He wanted to marry Vibha but the family did not approve of the match and she was married off to Vikas Kumar. The marriage came as a shock to Sanjeev, who, then, carved out a plan to eliminate Vikas. Vibha was in constant touch with Sanjeev, even after marrying Vikas. She was constantly talking to Sanjeev even after her husband was murdered. There is a strong suspicion she knew about the attack before hand and might be involved. Vibha will be questioned,” the officer said.

Similar cases have hit Patna in the past. On June 12, Patna police arrested five persons from the Magistrate Colony area under Rajiv Nagar police station who, during interrogation, confessed they were in the locality to break into the house of Sarita Sinha, a doctor, and kill her. Interrogations revealed Sinha’s husband, New Delhi-based Supreme Court lawyer Sanjay Kumar Sinha, had allegedly hired them to bump off his wife.

In talks with The Telegraph earlier, Sarita had alleged that Sanjeev was having an extramarital affair since 2007 and wanted to get rid of her. The couple married in 1997 and have two children.

On June 8, former Bihar minister Motilal Kanan’s middle-aged son Atul Krishna was returning from his wife’s place in Hajipur area of Vaishali district when two bike-borne men killed him point blank.

Hajipur witnessed unrest and Krishna’s family blamed a political rival for the murder. But the police cracked the case on June 11, stating Atul’s wife Shalini was in love with someone else and had paid four criminals Rs 40,000 to kill him after which she planned to marry her lover.