Karnataka woman arrested for allegedly killing husband over ₹8 crore assets

A woman has been apprehended in Karnataka on charges of murdering her husband and incinerating his remains. Niharika, the accused and the second wife of the victim, reportedly committed the crime to claim assets worth ₹8 crore, as reported by The Indian Express.

The victim, identified as Ramesh, 54, was a businessman from Telangana. Police allege that Niharika lured Ramesh to Uppal, where he was strangled. Afterward, she and her accomplices transported his body to a coffee plantation in Kodagu and set it ablaze.

The investigation was initiated on October 8 following the discovery of an unidentified body in the coffee estate. In response, police assembled four special teams consisting of 16 officers to delve deeper into the case.

Authorities reviewed CCTV footage from multiple cameras to track vehicles that moved through the vicinity around the time of the incident. Eventually, they located a red Benz registered to Ramesh, who had been reported missing, and collaborated with Telangana police to gather additional details.

As the inquiry advanced, investigators focused on Niharika, along with her associates Dr. Nikhil, a veterinarian, and Ankur Rana, a Bengaluru resident. During police interrogation, Niharika confessed to the murder.

Niharika, 29, is originally from Mongeer Nagar in Telangana. She faced significant hardships in her early life, including the death of her mother when she was 16, which led to her mother's remarriage. Following a troubled marriage that ended in divorce, Niharika earned a degree in engineering.

Her life took a negative turn in Haryana, where she became involved in a financial scam, resulting in her arrest. After serving her sentence, she returned to Bangalore and married Ramesh in 2018.

While Ramesh initially financed her lavish lifestyle, tensions escalated when he denied her demand for ₹8 crore, prompting Niharika and her accomplices to plot his murder, according to police sources.