The Ghastly Discovery

On March 18, 2025, what started as a normal house clearance in Meerut’s Brahmapuri neighborhood turned into something straight out of a nightmare. Two workers, hired by the tenant Muskan Rastogi, wrestled with a heavy blue drum left behind in the empty house. They yanked and dragged, but the thing wouldn’t budge. Then the lid popped off. Instantly, a foul smell flooded the room—so strong it made them gag.

Police examine the cement-sealed blue drum discovered in the rented house.

The laborers called the police right away. When the officers showed up, they found a drum full of cement. They sent it off to the forensic lab, and that’s where things took a dark turn—a severed head and other body parts, hidden in the concrete. The victim turned out to be Saurabh Rajput, Muskan’s husband.

A Love Story Gone Wrong

Saurabh Rajput and Muskan Rastogi started out as childhood sweethearts. Saurabh’s family didn’t approve, but the two of them ran away and got married in 2016 anyway. Saurabh had a job with the merchant navy, so he managed to give Muskan a comfortable life. Later, they moved into a rented place in Brahmapuri and had a daughter together. For a while, they honestly looked like the perfect family.

Saurabh, Muskan, and their daughter in happier times, celebrating a birthday.

Things started falling apart. Muskan couldn’t really settle in with Saurabh’s family and ended up arguing a lot. In 2019, while Saurabh was away for work, Muskan got back in touch with Sahil Shukla, an old school friend she found again in a WhatsApp group. That’s when everything began to unravel.

The Deadly Triangle

Muskan and Sahil’s friendship quickly turned into an affair, and the two of them got tangled up in drugs and alcohol together. Sahil started hanging around Muskan’s place so much that pretty much everyone in the neighborhood knew what was going on. When Saurabh came back, he found out about the affair and Muskan’s drug use. At first, he couldn’t quite believe it. He tried to hold things together for their daughter, but nothing worked—the marriage kept falling apart.

Muskan and Sahil in a dimly lit room, their secret affair and shared vices becoming the catalyst for tragedy.

Saurabh actually thought about getting a divorce, but Muskan’s parents stepped in and talked him out of it. He landed a job in London in 2023, thinking he could build a better life for his family. But while he was away, things with Muskan and Sahil spiraled—they got even deeper into their affair and their drug use.

The Murder Plot

When Saurabh said he’d be coming home in February 2025 for their daughter’s birthday, Muskan panicked. She saw his return as a threat to the freedom she’d gotten used to. So, she and Sahil started plotting to get rid of him. Muskan managed to talk Sahil into it, telling him Saurabh was abusive and that killing him was the only shot they had at being together.

Right before Saurabh was supposed to come back, Muskan gathered everything they’d need: sleeping pills, a big kitchen knife, a plastic drum, and some cement.

The chilling tools of the crime: a plastic drum, a knife, and cement, all procured by Muskan.

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On March 4, 2025, Muskan slipped sleeping pills into Saurabh’s dinner. When he passed out, she called Sahil over. Muskan stabbed Saurabh in the chest again and again until he died. Together, Muskan and Sahil cut his body into 15 pieces, stuffed the parts inside a blue drum, and sealed it up with cement.

Then, as if nothing happened, they cleaned up the house. They used Saurabh’s money and his phone to book a cab to Manali. Up in the hills, they celebrated Sahil’s birthday. They even posted photos on Saurabh’s social media, trying to make it look like he was alive and off enjoying a trip.

Muskan and Sahil in Manali, taking a selfie and attempting to live a normal life after the murder.

They planned to come back, get rid of the drum, and then tell everyone Saurabh had gone back to London. But things fell apart fast. The landlord told Muskan she had to leave because of renovations, and that’s when someone found the drum.

The Confession and Arrest

After the trip to Manali, Muskan realized she couldn’t keep up the act. She went to her parents and, at first, tried to pin the blame on Saurabh’s family. But her dad, Pramod Rastogi, pressed her for the truth. She broke down and confessed. He took her straight to the police, where she turned herself in. The police arrested Sahil soon after.

Muskan and Sahil in police custody, facing the consequences of their actions.

A Family Destroyed

This case has shaken the whole country. Muskan’s parents are so outraged, they’re asking for the death penalty for their own daughter. Saurabh’s family is in pieces—grieving and angry—and their little girl now has no father, and her mother sits in jail. Next up is the courtroom, where Muskan and Sahil will face whatever comes.