Assam Rifles jawan arrested for allegedly killing wife

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The police in Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh have arrested an Assam Rifles jawan for allegedly killing his estranged wife. Superintendent of Police Navneet Bhasin said Gajanan Saini alias Sonu (38), a lance naik with Assam Rifles, was arrested from the Army hospital in Bhopal on Friday evening.

A man wearing a mask shot dead Kirti Mali, Saini's wife, in Chhanera in Khandwa district on February 19 when she was on her way to a polytechnic where she was a lecturer, the SP said. Mali, whose relations with her husband were strained, travelled to Chhanera from Khandwa daily by train.

Bhasin said the police contacted Army authorities when the woman's family expressed suspicion about Saini and the investigation pointed to his possible involvement. Saini, meanwhile, got admitted in Army hospital at Bhopal after meeting with an accident. "After getting permission from higher authorities, the Army officials handed him over to us," the SP said. Saini was on leave from February 2 to 24, the period during which the crime took place, he said.

Police also seized a pistol and three live cartridges following his questioning, Bhasin said. Saini also told police during the questioning that one of his colleagues helped him get the weapon, the SP said, adding that police were investigating this claim.

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