Lucknow woman, lover turn off CCTV to murder mother-in-law, switch it on later to mislead cops; held

LUCKNOW: A 36-year-old woman allegedly conspired with her lover to murder her 69-year-old mother-in-law inside their home in Nishatganj, with police citing an illicit relationship and family opposition as the motive.

The accused, identified as Ranjana Verma, along with her 21-year-old lover, Rajan Sharma—a taxi driver, mechanic, and tenant in the same house—have been arrested. According to police, the duo tied the victim Nirmala Devi's hands and legs before strangling her to death on Saturday afternoon.

Investigators said the accused deliberately switched off the house's CCTV cameras between 2 pm and 4 pm to avoid suspicion.

After committing the crime, the two fled in a car and later remotely reactivated the CCTV system via mobile phone. However, their plan began to unravel when the victim's 18-year-old grandson, Aditya, returned home around 4 pm and found his grandmother lying unconscious with her limbs tied.

He raised an alarm, informed his father, Tridesh Verma, and tried calling his mother.

Fearing suspicion, Ranjana and Rajan returned home and attempted to stage the crime as a case of robbery and murder. Ranjana was seen pretending to grieve and claimed they were out when the incident occurred.

Police, however, grew suspicious after noticing that the CCTV system had been switched off during the crucial hours. Footage from outside cameras showed Ranjana leaving the house with Rajan. A sniffer dog deployed at the scene led investigators directly to Rajan, who appeared nervous and attempted to move away.

"Rajan confessed to the crime, revealing that he was in a relationship with Ranjana for four years. He told police that the victim opposed their relationship, leading the duo to plan her murder. He also admitted to having control over the CCTV system, which he switched off before executing the plan," said Ankit Kumar, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Mahanagar.

SHO Mahanagar Akhilesh Mishra said an FIR has been registered on the complaint of the victim's son, and both accused have been arrested.