A young man, along with his two accomplices, has landed in the Punjab Police's net on charges of plotting the murder of his pregnant wife whom he did not find attractive.
The woman lost her unborn child when a bullet hit her in the stomach on January 5.
Accused husband Sandeep Singh, 22, along with his accomplices was booked for murder and criminal conspiracy in Moonak town, around 150 km from here, police said on Wednesday.
Police said Sandeep planned his wife's murder with his friends by passing it off as a robbery.
As per the plan, the couple travelled in a car from their village towards Moonak on January 5 when he stopped midway to smoke. His accomplices reached the spot and robbed the couple of money and jewellery. They also fired at the woman, injuring her in the stomach, the police said.
Police officials said Sandeep and his friends Rajat and Surinder Sharma spilled the beans on their murder plot during questioning since there were loopholes in their robbery story.
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"The accused even deliberately drove the car slowly towards a hospital so that his wife died on the way. However, the bullet hit the foetus that was aborted. The woman has since been shifted to a hospital in Hisar in Haryana where she is out of danger," Sangrur Senior Superintendent of Police Mandeep Singh Sidhu told the media.
"Sandeep said he wanted to eliminate his wife as she was ugly and looked older than him. They were married for one year. The man was having affairs with other women," the official said.
The accused even provided the crime weapon to his accomplices. The weapon has been seized.
--IANS
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