The couple in custody for the murder of Indian Air Force corporal Vipan Shukla (inset) in Bathinda on Tuesday. Photo: Pawan sharma

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, February 21

The chopped body of Indian Air Force (IAF) corporal Vipan Shukla, who had gone missing on February 8, was found today in the staff quarters at the Bhisiana air force station.The police arrested IAF sergeant Shailesh Kumar and his wife Anuradha, who is eight months’ pregnant, for the murder. A co-accused, Shailesh’s brother-in-law Shashi Bhushan, is absconding. A preliminary investigation revealed that Shukla had illicit relations with Anuradha. On getting pregnant last year, she allegedly asked him to marry her as she was prepared to divorce her husband. However, he rebuffed her and told her to get an abortion done.Sources said Anuradha and her husband later hatched a conspiracy to murder Shukla. Her brother, who works in the Merchant Navy, became their accomplice.Police sources stated that around 10.30 pm on February 8, when Shukla was taking a walk, Anuradha sought his help to pack her luggage. He entered her house, where Shailesh and his brother-in-law hit him fatally on the head with an axe and hid the body in a trunk.On February 19, they chopped the body into pieces and packed it in 16 packets. They then kept the parts in the refrigerator and a cupboard in their new quarters, the sources added.The police said Kumkum Shukla, the victim’s wife, had registered a complainant at Balluana police post on February 9 about her disappearance.A police team, along with IAF officials and a dog squad, searched the quarters and recovered the body parts.