Heart attack that wasn’t: Woman kills husband with lover’s help for ₹ 2 crore insurance payout

 

By Sagaya Fernando | January 12, 2026

Nizamabad, Telangana, INDIA: A woman in Telangana’s Nizamabad district has been arrested for allegedly orchestrating the murder of her husband with the help of her lover and hired contract killers, and then attempting to pass it off as a natural heart attack to claim insurance money exceeding ₹2 crore, police said.

The accused, identified as Soumya, is alleged to have conspired to kill her husband, Palnati Ramesh (34), a resident of Borgam (K) village in Makloor mandal. The couple had been married for nearly 13 years after a love marriage and were living in Nizamabad district. Ramesh worked with a private finance company, while Soumya was employed at a private school.

According to investigators, Soumya developed an illicit relationship with Dilip, a physical education teacher at the same school where she worked. Frequent arguments between the couple over the affair allegedly led Soumya and Dilip to plot Ramesh’s murder.

As part of the conspiracy, Dilip reportedly contacted his relative Abhishek, a resident of Madapur village, who then connected him to a contract killer named Jitender. Through Jitender, three more gang members were hired. Police said Soumya pledged her ring and paid ₹35,000 as advance money to the killers.

The first attempt on Ramesh’s life was allegedly made in August 2025, when the hired gang tried to ram a car into his motorcycle while he was travelling from Armoor to Nizamabad. Ramesh survived the attack and later lodged a complaint with Makloor police, leading to the registration of a case. The accused, however, waited for another opportunity.

Police said that on the night of December 19, after dinner, Soumya mixed ten sleeping pills in water and gave it to Ramesh. Once he fell into a deep sleep, she contacted Dilip. When the contract killers failed to respond, Dilip and Abhishek allegedly went to Borgam village themselves and strangled Ramesh with a towel before suffocating him with a pillow.

Soumya later claimed that her husband had died of a heart attack and completed the funeral rites without raising suspicion.

The case took a dramatic turn when Ramesh’s brother Kethir, who lives in Israel, grew suspicious about the circumstances of the death and lodged a complaint with Makloor police from abroad.

Acting on the complaint, police exhumed Ramesh’s body on December 24 and conducted a second post-mortem examination. The autopsy confirmed that the death was a homicide.

Police have arrested Soumya, Dilip, Abhishek and several members of the contract killing gang, and all have been remanded to judicial custody. One accused, identified as Mohsin, is still absconding.

“Efforts are on to trace the absconding accused,” said ACP Raja Venkata Reddy.

During interrogation, Soumya allegedly revealed that Ramesh had taken multiple insurance policies worth over ₹2 crore. Police said she planned the murder to claim the insurance money and start a new life with her lover, but the plot unravelled following her brother-in-law’s complaint.