'Sang love song over dead body': Eyewitness reveals how journalist's corpse lay buried beneath a road for 5 years

(AI generated image)

• Witness describes accused's calmness post journalist's murder
• Salma Sultana's body was buried under a road in 2018
• Police found Sultana's remains using radar and DNA tests in 2023

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A chilling eyewitness account has emerged in a Chhattisgarh courtroom, describing the horrifying moments after a journalist was allegedly murdered and secretly buried beneath a road five years ago.

NDTV reported that Salma Sultana, a journalist from Korba city, was killed in 2018 and her body was hidden under a road under construction. The report stated that the case has now taken a disturbing turn with testimony revealing the accused's shocking behaviour immediately after the alleged crime.

How Salma Sultana's murder case was cracked

Komal Singh Rajput, who worked as a computer operator at accused Madhur Sahu's gym, testified before Additional Sessions Judge Garima Sharma that Sahu displayed no fear, panic or remorse after allegedly strangling his live-in partner.

Instead, she told the court that Sahu stood beside Sultana's lifeless body, lit a cigarette and began humming victim's favourite song — "Tujhe Naraz Nahi Main Zindagi, Hairaan Hoon Main" from the film 'Masoom'.

Singh recounted being invited to Sultana's home in Sharda Vihar on the day of the incident. An argument between Sahu and Sultana quickly turned violent, she testified.

According to her statement, Sahu first attempted to strangle Sultana during the heated exchange. As the confrontation intensified, he allegedly threw her onto the bed and strangled her again. Co-accused Kaushal Shrivas reportedly pressed a pillow over Sultana's mouth to silence her.

When Komal attempted to intervene, she told the court that she was warned to stay quiet or face the same fate.

After Sultana was dead, Sahu, holding the body with one hand and smoking with the other, softly sang her favourite song — "Tujhe Naraz Nahi Main Zindagi, Hairaan Hoon Main".

Singh further alleged that after the murder, Sahu forced her and the household maid, Savita, to send a message from Sultana's phone to her family stating that she was leaving and asking not to be bothered.

The phone was then switched off, creating the illusion of voluntary disappearance.

Sahu had compromising photographs of several women

The witness also claimed that Sahu stored compromising photographs of several women on his computer and used them for blackmail.

Komal testified that she had attempted to inform a police officer and a relative of Sultana's about the crime, but word reached Sahu and she was threatened into silence.

Investigators say the accused buried Sultana's body under a road under construction near Bhawani Dabri.

For five years, vehicles travelled over that stretch of asphalt, unaware that a journalist's remains lay beneath.

How the case was cracked

The secret only surfaced in 2023 when police deployed Ground Penetrating Radar and satellite-based mapping technology. The road was excavated and a skeleton recovered. DNA testing confirmed it was Sultana. The case that once appeared to be a disappearance reopened as a brutal homicide.

Public Prosecutor Sunil Sonwani was reported by NDTV as saying that 41 witnesses have already deposed in court, with 10 more remaining.

Investigators say the charge sheet and forensic evidence have significantly strengthened the prosecution's case. However, it is Singh's testimony, particularly the image of the accused calmly singing after the murder, that has emerged as the emotional and evidentiary centrepiece of the trial.