Twist In Bihar Temple Murder As Cops Say Victim 'Blackmailed Girlfriend, Killed By Her Family'. 3 Held

Manoj Kumar Shah and Neha Kumai were in a relationship which the latter wanted to end. Shah blackmailed her over her intimate photographs after which Neha killed Shah with the help of family members.

A temple caretaker in Bihar was killed after he was blackmailing a woman over he intimate photographs/Representational Image

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The Special Investigation Team formed by Gopalganj police in Bihar to probe the murder of a temple caretaker, Manoj Kumar Shah, said it had managed to crack the sensational case with the arrest of the three persons on Monday. The arrested accused have been identified as Neha Kumari, Sunita Devi, and Amit Kumar, all residents of Koini Danapur under Manjha police station in Bihar's Patna.

According to a statement by Gopalganj police, Shah had an affair with Neha Kumari for quite sometime and the latter was trying to end the relationship. But, Shah threatened to make her intimate photographs and videos public if she left the relationship. 

Neha told her family members about the matter after which she made a phone call to Shah on December 10 from her aunt's mobile phone and called him there. 

"The deceased, Manoj Kumar Shah had an affair with Neha Kumari for quite some time and the latter was trying to end the relationship. During investigation, it appeared that Shah was blackmailing her over some intimate photographs and videos and this is the reason why she called him and her family members killed him," SP, Gopalganj, Swarn Prabhat said, as per an IANS report.

मनोज साह हत्या कांड का उदभेद्न@bihar_police @BiharHomeDept @DigSaran @swarnprabhat516 pic.twitter.com/mFvntfaH2u

— Gopalganj Police (@GopalganjPolice) December 18, 2023

While going through the CCTV footage, Shah was seen leaving the temple at 12:45 am on December 11, the police statement added.

Prabhat said the police traced down the victim's last call, which was to Neha's aunt Sunita Devi. The police then reached her home and quizzed the duo. "They broke down and revealed the incident," the SP said. 

According to Neha's confession, she was in a relationship with Shah as they were residing next to each other. Later, Neha wanted to end the affair but Shah started blackmailing her. Neha then hatched a plan to kill Shah.

As per the plan, Neha called him using the phone of her aunt and asked him to meet in her house on December 10 night. Manoj Shah left the Shiv temple at 12.45 am on December 11 and went to her house where Neha’s family overpowered him. "They killed him, mutilated his dead body and dumped it in a pit near Sudha dairy outlet," the SP said.

A mutilated body of Shah was found in the morning of December 16 with both eyes removed, the tongue slit, and private parts chopped off, as per the IANS report.