Mumbai, May 21: The producer of Shah Rukh Khan’s quiz show Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain, who went missing two weeks ago, was allegedly murdered by a small-time actress and her naval officer boyfriend.

The couple chopped the body into small pieces and dumped the remains in a jungle 60km from here, police said.

The actress, 27-year-old Maria Monica Susairaj, and her childhood sweetheart, M.L. Jerome Mathew, 25, were arrested today for murdering Neeraj Grover, 25, the creative head of Synergy Adlabs that produces Paanchvi Pass.

Susairaj, who acted in four Kannada films and moved to Mumbai, was arrested by the crime branch.

Mathew was arrested in Kochi, where he was training to be a naval lieutenant.

Grover, who lived alone in Versova, western Mumbai, went missing on the night of May 6. Susairaj had then told police he had come to her house for dinner around 10.30pm but left a couple of hours later after being invited to a party in Andheri.

His friends scoffed at the story, saying Grover had told them he was staying the night with Susairaj. Also, his cellphone was at her house.

Susairaj broke down after interrogation by the crime branch last night and confessed to the murder. She took the police to a deserted spot in the jungles of Manor in Thane, about 60km from Mumbai, where Grover’s half-burnt skull and ribcage were found. Many body parts had been devoured by animals.

According to the police, Grover, who was then working with Balaji Telefilms, had met Susairaj when she auditioned for a role in Ekta Kapoor’s upcoming TV serial, Mahabharat, last month. The two entered into a relationship.

Piecing together the story from her statement, police sources said around 11.30pm on May 6, Susairaj received a call from Mathew, her long-time boyfriend who she knew from her childhood in Mysore.

“Mathew could hear a man’s voice in the background and asked her who it was. Susairaj’s phone was dying and so she asked Mathew to call on Grover’s cell. The men talked and Grover handed the phone back to the girl. Suspecting that she was having an affair, Mathew took a flight from Kochi and landed up at her door,” a police officer said.

Mathew arrived at her flat early on May 7. Susairaj opened the door as Grover stood behind her. Seeing Grover still there, Mathew slashed the TV producer on the neck with a kitchen knife, and stabbed him twice more, killing him.

“He got there around 7.30am and killed him 10 minutes later. The duo then proceeded to destroy all evidence of the crime,” said joint commissioner Rakesh Maria.