A woman schoolteacher in Maharashtra’s Buldhana district who was believed to have died in a road accident was later found to be the victim of a planned murder allegedly orchestrated by her husband. The incident occurred on March 2 when Vrushali Prakash Gawande was travelling to school on her moped. An unidentified vehicle struck her from behind with force, causing her death on the spot. The case was initially registered as an accident, but doubts raised by her family prompted authorities to re-examine the circumstances surrounding the crash.
Acting on the family’s concerns, police launched a detailed investigation and reviewed CCTV footage from the route where the collision occurred. During the examination, officers identified a vehicle that appeared suspicious and traced its movements. The vehicle and its driver were soon located and taken into custody for questioning. Investigators began analysing technical evidence alongside the video material to reconstruct the sequence of events leading to the fatal crash.
During interrogation, the driver allegedly confessed that the collision had been deliberate. He told police that the victim’s husband, along with an associate, had hired him to ram the moped intentionally. According to investigators, the driver was promised ₹1 lakh to carry out the act and make the killing appear like a routine road accident. His statement shifted the direction of the probe from accidental death to a planned homicide.
Following the confession, police registered a murder case and named the husband and two others as accused. Additional Superintendent of Police Shrenik Lodha said the probe relied on both surveillance evidence and technical analysis. He noted that the victim’s father-in-law had originally filed a complaint reporting that an unknown vehicle had caused the fatal crash, while relatives later conveyed their suspicion that the incident may not have been accidental.
Authorities arrested the husband and the two co-accused and produced them before a court, which granted police custody remand until March 11. Investigators also recovered the cash allegedly paid to the driver as part of the contract killing. Officials said the financial trail and digital evidence further strengthened the case against the accused.
Police revealed that the couple had a troubled relationship. A few months earlier, the woman had filed a complaint alleging harassment by her in-laws, after which the couple began living separately. They later resumed living together following mediation by relatives who attempted reconciliation. Investigators believe that despite the reunion, the husband allegedly conspired to eliminate his wife and disguise the murder as a traffic accident. The alleged plot surfaced only days after the incident, leading to swift arrests and further legal proceedings.
