Love in Siliguri to murder in Dehradun, how Nepali woman's affair with married Indian armyman got her killed

A 42-year-old married Indian army officer befriended a 30-year-old woman from Nepal two years ago at a bar in Siliguri, West Bengal, got into a relationship with her and two years later, murdered her in Dehradun to get rid of her.

What happened

• The tragic news came to light on September 10, when the Dehradun police zeroed in on Ramendu Upadhyay, a 42-year-old serving Lieutenant Colonel posted at Clement Town cantonment, the father of a two-year-old child, who was a prime suspect in the murder of 30-year-old Shreya Sharma.
• Upadhyay was arrested from his home in Panditwari Prem Nagar.
• Shreya’s body was found on the outskirts of the city on Sunday, September 10.
• The police cracked down on the case within 24 hours as there was evidence which pointed at Upadhyay.

Love in Siliguri

• According to reports, Upadhyay met Shreya Sharma at a dance bar in 2020 when he was posted there.
• Shreya worked at the dance bar.
• The two became friends and their friendship turned into an affair.
• Upadhyay confessed to police that he and Shreya lived as a married couple in Siliguri.

Transfer to Dehradun

After he was posted to Dehradun, Upadhyay got Shreya along to Uttarakhand.

• However, things got tense when his wife came to know about their relationship.
• Upadhyay told the police, “After being posted to Dehradun, I brought her with me, but when my wife got to know about Shreya, I sent her back to Siliguri.”
• However, after a few days, Upadhyay called Shreya back to Dehradun where he had rented a flat for her. The two used to secretly meet there.
• However, tensions escalated between the two as Shreya now pressured Upadhyay to marry her.

Fight over alcohol and food

Upadhyay told the police that Shreya constantly fought with him for food and drinks from hotels.

• He said that he used to cook for her since she didn’t know how to.
• Upadhyay’s wife got to know about Shreya residing in Dehradun and the two had a heated argument over the same.
• It was after this that Upadhyay decided to get rid of Shreya.

The murder

On September 9, Upadhyay took Shreya to a club at Rajpur Road where he made her drink heavily.

• He offered her a long drive, which she agreed to.
• After taking the car to a secluded place outside the city of Dehradun, somewhere near the Thano forest, Upadhyay killed Shreya by repeatedly hitting her with a hammer.
• He then dumped her body on the road, poured toilet cleaner on her face and fled from the spot.

Police track down Upadhyay

The locals alerted the police of a body lying on the road, after which the police swung into action.

• Police scanned CCTV footage from the area, through which they were led to Upadhyay.
• Once the cops took Upadhyay for questioning, he confessed to the crime.
• The police also recovered the hammer, Shreya’s identity card, two mobile phones belonging to Upadhyay, clothes of both of them, the car and the toilet cleaner.
• SP (City) Sarita Dobhal told PTI that after killing Shreya, Upadhyay dumped the body alongside the road and fled from the spot. She said that the army officer has confessed the crime and the clothes Upadhyay was wearing at the time of crime have also been recovered.