Arrested cop under lens for 2 wives, 2 deaths and 2 crore insurance cover

BHUBANESWAR Two wives, two deaths, Rs 2 crore insurance cover . The double life of Odisha police constable Deepak Kumar Rout, 39, is under the scanner following his arrest for murder of his 25-year-old second wife, traffic constable Subhamitra Sahoo, who was found buried in a pit meant to pass off as a toilet.

Subhamitra's body was exhumed in Keonjhar Wednesday, leading to arrest of her husband and two others, his relative Binod Bihari Bhuyan (28), and landowner Sambhunath Mohanta, who allegedly took Rs 5,000 to let Rout bury her on his plot. Mohanta hired a machine to dig the pit, misleading the operator that it was for toilet construction.

The killing reopened old wounds. On Thursday, the family of Rout's first wife Aparna Priyadarshini, a revenue inspector, who died in a road crash in March 2022, lodged a complaint in Dhenkanal alleging she too was murdered. They claimed Rout tortured Aparna, coerced her into loans of over Rs 10 lakh, and later collected Rs 1 crore in insurance after her death. Subhamitra was also insured for Rs 1 crore. DCP Jagmohan Meena said Rout hatched the plan to murder Subhamitra on Aug 26 after rows over money with her, whom he had married in July.