A woman in Telangana’s Nizamabad district has confessed to plotting the murder of her husband in a bid to claim insurance worth over Rs 2 crore. Police said Soumya, the accused, conspired with her lover and hired contract killers, later attempting to make the death appear as a heart attack.
The victim, Palnati Ramesh, a resident of Borgam (K) village in Makloor mandal, had been married to Soumya for nearly 13 years. The couple, who had a love marriage, lived in Nizamabad district. Ramesh worked at a private finance company, while Soumya was employed at a private school in the same district.
According to investigators, Soumya developed an illicit relationship with Dilip, a physical education teacher at her school. Frequent disputes between Ramesh and Soumya over the affair allegedly led the couple to plot his murder.
Police said Dilip approached his relative Abhishek from Madapur village, who introduced him to a contract killer named Jitender. Through Jitender, three more gang members were recruited. Soumya reportedly pledged her ring and paid Rs 35,000 as an advance to the killers.
The first attempt on Ramesh’s life occurred in August 2025, when the gang allegedly tried to ram a car into his motorcycle while he was travelling from Armoor to Nizamabad. Ramesh survived and filed a complaint with Makloor police. Undeterred, the accused waited for another opportunity.
On the night of December 19, Soumya allegedly mixed ten sleeping pills in water and gave it to Ramesh. Once he fell asleep, she contacted Dilip. When the contract killers did not respond, Dilip and Abhishek went to Borgam village, where they allegedly strangled Ramesh with a towel and suffocated him with a pillow, police said.
Soumya then claimed that Ramesh had died of a heart attack and carried out the funeral rites without raising suspicion.
The case took a turn when Ramesh’s brother, Kethir, living in Israel, grew suspicious and lodged a complaint with Makloor police. Acting on the complaint, authorities exhumed Ramesh’s body on December 24 for a re-postmortem, which confirmed that he had been murdered.
Police have arrested Soumya, Dilip, Abhishek, and several members of the contract killing gang, and sent them to judicial custody. One accused, Mohsin, remains absconding, with police continuing efforts to trace him, ACP Raja Venkata Reddy said.
During interrogation, Soumya revealed that Ramesh had multiple insurance policies worth over Rs 2 crore. Police said she had planned the murder to claim the insurance money and start a new life with her lover, but the plot was foiled thanks to her brother-in-law’s timely complaint.