Agra murder: Jealous lover calls HR manager to office, beheads her and dismembers body

Agra murder

• HR manager Minky Sharma murdered and dismembered in Agra, body found near Yamuna
• Colleague and lover Vinay Singh arrested, confessed to crime after CCTV review
• Police cite dispute over marriage as motive, investigation and recovery ongoing

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A 32-year-old human resources manager was brutally murdered, beheaded and her dismembered body dumped near a bridge over the Yamuna river in Agra in an alleged crime of passion, police stated on Monday. The accused, identified as her 30-year-old colleague and lover, has been arrested.

The victim, Minky Sharma, a resident of Tedhi Bagiya in Agra, was reported missing by her family after she left home for her office in Sanjay Place on the afternoon of January 23 and failed to return.

According to a police account cited by TOI, the grim discovery was made in the early hours of January 24. Local residents alerted authorities to a suspicious gunny bag on Jawahar Bridge in the Etmadullah police station area. Upon inspection, officers found the naked, headless body of a woman inside. The victim’s legs had also been severed.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (City) Sayed Ali Abbas swiftly formed five special teams to investigate. The breakthrough came from a combination of a missing person’s report and crucial CCTV footage. The footage reportedly showed a man dragging a gunny bag from an office building and later riding a scooter towards the bridge.

Further camera review from Maruti Plaza, MG Road and the highway led police to identify the suspect as Vinay Singh, a computer operator at the same private firm where Sharma worked as an HR manager.

Police officials reportedly stated that during interrogation, Singh confessed to the murder. The two had allegedly been in a relationship for over two years, but Singh had grown suspicious after learning Sharma had been in contact with another man for approximately six months. This suspicion sparked frequent arguments.

On the day of the murder, Singh had called Sharma to their office. Following another argument, he allegedly attacked her repeatedly with a knife, inflicting a fatal wound to her neck. He then dismembered her body, packed the remains into a plastic bag sealed with parcel tape and placed the severed head in a separate backpack.

Singh told investigators he used Sharma’s scooter to transport the body to Jawahar Bridge with the intention of throwing it into the Yamuna. However, he abandoned the bag near the bridge after struggling to lift it and noticing passersby. He subsequently disposed of the victim’s head, clothes, mobile phone and bag near a drain before leaving the scooter at a secluded location.

DCP Abbas reportedly confirmed that the motive appeared to be a dispute over marriage, with Singh wanting to marry Sharma and she refusing. The victim’s family has since identified the body. Police have recovered the murder weapon, the victim’s scooter and her clothes.

An First Information Report has been registered at the Trans Yamuna police station under sections of murder and destroying evidence of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant provisions of the Arms Act. Vinay Singh has been sent to judicial custody. Authorities say efforts to recover the victim’s severed head are ongoing and they have pledged to take the strictest possible action in the case.