Heart attack that turned out to be murder: Woman kills husband with lover's help for Rs 2 crore insurance money in Telangana

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• Telangana woman arrested for plotting husband's murder for Rs 2 crore insurance
• Soumya, lover, and hitmen strangled Ramesh, faked heart attack.
• Police arrested all but one accused after brother-in-law's complaint prompted probe.

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A woman in Telangana’s Nizamabad district has been arrested for allegedly plotting the murder of her husband to claim insurance proceeds exceeding Rs 2 crore. Police say the accused, Soumya, confessed to planning the crime with her lover and hiring contract killers, later attempting to portray the death as a natural heart attack.

The victim, Palnati Ramesh, was a resident of Borgam (K) village in Makloor mandal. He had been married to Soumya for nearly 13 years. The couple, who married after a love relationship, had been living in Nizamabad district. Ramesh was employed with a private finance company, while Soumya worked at a private school.

Investigators said Soumya developed an illicit relationship with Dilip, a physical education teacher at the same school. Frequent arguments between Ramesh and Soumya over the affair allegedly pushed the duo to plan his murder.

As part of the conspiracy, Dilip reportedly contacted his relative Abhishek, a resident of Madapur village, who then linked him to a contract killer named Jitender. Through Jitender, three additional gang members were brought in. Police said Soumya pledged her ring and paid Rs 35,000 as an advance to the hired killers.

The first attempt to kill Ramesh allegedly took place in August 2025, when the gang tried to ram a car into his motorcycle while he was travelling from Armoor to Nizamabad. Ramesh survived the attack and later filed a complaint with Makloor police, leading to the registration of a case. The accused, however, waited for another chance.

Police said that on the night of December 19, after dinner, Soumya mixed ten sleeping pills in water and gave it to Ramesh. Once he fell into a deep sleep, she contacted Dilip. When the contract killers failed to respond, Dilip and Abhishek allegedly went to Borgam village themselves and strangled Ramesh with a towel before suffocating him with a pillow.

Soumya later claimed that her husband had died of a heart attack and completed the funeral rites without raising suspicion. The case took a turn when Ramesh’s brother, Kethir, who lives in Israel, became suspicious and lodged a complaint with Makloor police from abroad.

Following the complaint, police exhumed Ramesh’s body on December 24 and conducted a second post-mortem examination. The autopsy confirmed that the death was a homicide.

Soumya, Dilip, Abhishek and several members of the contract killing gang have since been arrested and sent to judicial custody. One accused, identified as Mohsin, is still on the run. “Efforts are on to trace the absconding accused,” ACP Raja Venkata Reddy said.

During questioning, Soumya allegedly revealed that Ramesh had taken multiple insurance policies worth over Rs 2 crore. Police said she planned the murder to claim the insurance money and begin a new life with her lover, but the plan collapsed following her brother-in-law’s complaint.