Mumbai, May 15 (HT) : The Mumbai police have found the severed head of Priyanka Gurav, 23, who was allegedly murdered by her husband and in-laws four days after her marriage in Shahpur on the outskirts of Mumbai .

The police had earlier arrested Priyanka’s husband, Siddhesh, 25, his parents -- Manohar, 50 and Madhuri, 48 --- and a friend Durgesh Patwa, 31, in connection with the murder.

Pradeep Jain, 34, who allegedly helped Siddhesh dispose of the body, which was chopped into pieces, was arrested on Sunday.

Priyanka went missing on April 5. Her husband approached the Worli police and registered a missing person’s case on the same day.

The Rabale police found her beheaded body in a nullah in the industrial area last week. They, however, could not identify it as her head was severed.

Priyanka’s siblings identified the body from her clothes and a Ganpati tattoo on her body.

C Katkar, senior police inspector, Rabale MIDC police station, said, “The accused killed the victim on April 4 by smothering her with a pillow. They then cut her body into pieces and dumped it at different spots in the city. We recovered her leg from Badlapur on Saturday. More people are likely to be arrested.”

Planned days in advance

The cops said that the plan to murder Priyanka had been hatched 10 days in advance. Priyanka's husband Siddesh Gurav (25), his parents and one of his friends, Durgesh Patwa, murdered her on the night of May 4.

"The Guravs were confident that they had a foolproof plan, and that the police would never be able to find Priyanka's body parts or identify her. They had instructed the co-accused Durgesh to dump the three body parts (head, lower limbs and torso) at different places, so that Priyanka could never be traced. When the Gurav family learnt that that the torso had been identified, they feared that they would get exposed, so they planned to end their lives," said an officer from the Crime Branch.

After Kavita approached the Rabale MIDC police station, the cops called the Gurav family for questioning, but they continued to feign ignorance. However, through Siddesh's call records, cops zeroed in on Durgesh, who cracked during interrogation and revealed everything.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Tushar Doshi said, "Durgesh revealed that he was paid Rs 40,000 for the murder and disposing of the body, and that the money had already been transferred to his bank account by Siddesh."

How they did it

"Durgesh, a resident of Titwala, was a friend of Siddesh's. On the night of May 4, after Priyanka fell asleep, the Gurav family allowed Durgesh into the house at Worli, and they smothered her to death with a pillow," the officer said.

They dragged her body to the bathroom, where they cut her head and lower limbs from the torso. In the middle of the night, Durgesh wrapped the body parts in a plastic sheet and drove out alone to dispose of them.

"Unaware of Durgesh's arrest, Siddesh and his parents kept denying any knowledge of the murder. However, after sustained interrogation, Siddesh's father Manohar broke down and admitted to the crime. When Durgesh was produced before Siddesh, he too confessed to the crime," said one of the officers.

All four accused have been booked for murder, conspiracy and destruction of evidence. PI Jadhav added, "We have the accused in police custody till May 22. We have to find the missing head, as well as the murder weapon and the car used to transport the body parts."