Madhavdas and his estranged wife Urmila have now been arrested in the triple murder caseA couple allegedly murdered and buried three ailing family members in Surat in 2022. In the years that followed, the couple fell out, and the man decided to get back at his wife. But an attempt to frame his wife proved to be his undoing. Police have now charged the man, Madhavdas Sadhu, and his estranged wife Urmila with the murders of Shanta Vasava, Urmila’s grandmother, Bhagwati Vasava, Urmila’s sister, and Manjula Sadhu, Madhavdas’s mother.Police sources said they are still trying to identify the motive behind the crimes.A tip-off that started it allEarlier this month, the Detection of Crime Branch of Ahmedabad City Police received information that in 2022, an elderly woman, Shanta Vasava, was murdered at Kosamba in Surat by her granddaughter, Urmila, and her male cousin. The informer told the cops that the body was buried in their house.Based on the tip-off, the Crime Branch launched a probe, tracked down Urmila’s cousin and questioned him. The questioning threw up a twist. “During the interrogation of the detained individual and the verification of available facts, no involvement of him in the murder incident was found. Consequently, the Crime Branch suspected the veracity of the tip-off and initiated an in-depth investigation into the role of the informant – Madhavdas Bhaktiram Sadhu,” said a statement by Ajit Rajian, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Crime. Remains of Urmila’s grandmother have been dug out after the chilling revelationA chilling discoveryWhen Madhavas was questioned, the investigators found discrepancies in his statements. “During further interrogation, a shocking disclosure of the entire incident came to light, that the murder of Shanta Gambhir Vasava was in fact committed by Madhavdas Bhaktiram Sadhu together with his wife Urmila alias Jaya Madhavdas Sadhu,” the Crime Branch statement said.“In order to save himself from this murder crime and with the intention of implicating his wife Urmila and her cousin in the murder case, Madhavdas had attempted to mislead the police by providing a false tip-off that the murder was committed by Urmila and her cousin,” it added.A separation, and a grudgeThe investigation revealed that Urmila and Madhavdas had been living separately for approximately eight months. Urmila left their home with her son and took along her jewellery and cash. Madhavdas held a grudge. “The investigation revealed that due to this grudge, the entire false narrative was concocted with the intention of implicating his wife in the crime as well,” said the police.Story continues below this adAfter murdering Urmila’s grandmother Shanta in 2022, the accused couple allegedly placed her body in a barrel and filled it with cement. The body was then buried in a pit. Police have now dug it out.More shocking revelationsA police statement said that further questioning of Madhavdas and Urmila revealed that they allegedly committed two more murders in 2022. “One was that of Bhagwati Kamlesh Vasava, who was the sister of Urmila and was suffering from TB. The other was Manjula Bhaktiram Sadhu, mother of Madhavdas and the mother-in-law of Urmila, and was suffering from paralysis,” the statement said.On what happened to those bodies, the Crime Branch said, “Madhavdas and Urmila together smothered Bhagwati’s face with a pillow and murdered her and buried her body. Similarly, Madhavdas and Urmila together smothered Manjula’s face with a pillow and murdered her. Subsequently, her body was cremated.”Brendan Dabhi works with The Indian Express, focusing his comprehensive reporting primarily on Gujarat. He covers the region's most critical social, legal, and administrative sectors, notably specializing at the intersection of health, social justice, and disasters. Expertise Health and Public Policy: He has deep expertise in healthcare issues, including rare diseases, Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), the complex logistics of organ transplants, and public health challenges like drug-resistant TB and heat health surveillance. His on-ground reporting during the COVID-19 pandemic and Mucormycosis was critical in exposing healthcare challenges faced by marginalized communities in Gujarat. Social Justice and Legal Administration: He reports on the functioning of the legal and police system, including the impact of judicial philosophy, forensics and crucial administrative reforms (. He covers major surveillance and crackdown exercises by the Gujarat police and security on the international border. Disaster and Crisis Management: His work closely tracks how government and civic bodies respond to large-scale crises, providing essential coverage on the human and administrative fallout of disasters including cyclones, floods, conflict, major fires and reported extensively on the AI 171 crash in Ahmedabad. Civic Infrastructure and Governance: Provides timely reports on critical civic failures, including large scale infrastructure projects by the railways and civic bodies, as well as the enforcement of municipal regulations and their impact on residents and heritage. ... Read MoreStay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on InstagramTags:Surattriple murder case