INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
NAINITAL: When Haldwani police found the body of a young businessman, Ankit Chauhan, 32, inside his car on July 15, it was taken to be a
case of death due to asphyxiation
However, as cops started unravelling the case, it turned out to be a well-planned murder executed by his girlfriend in a manner that would
give any Bollywood potboiler a run for its money.The body of Chauhan, a resident of Rambagh Colony, Rampur Road, was found on the backseat
of his car near Teenpani railway crossing
Police found that carbon monoxide was emanating from the car's AC, which they suspected to have led to the businessman's death
However, the post-mortem revealed snake bites on both of Chauhan's legs and the cause of death, it turned out, was poisoning by snake
venom.Cops then began probing further and examined nearby CCTV cameras and Chauhan's call details, which is when Mahi Arya's name came to
Mahi and Chauhan were alleged to be dating each other
Meanwhile, Chauhan's sister Isha filed a report at Haldwani police station, accusing Mahi and her friend Deep Kandpal of murdering Chauhan
Examining the call details of Mahi further led the cops to a snake charmer Ramesh Nath, who then revealed the grisly murder plot during
interrogation.The snake charmer told the police that Mahi had approached him and sought his help in getting Chauhan bitten by a snake to
make the killing appear as an accident
She paid him Rs 10,000 for the job, he claimed, adding that Mahi was upset with Chauhan's constant interference in her life and now wanted
to get rid of him.According to the snake charmer, Mahi and all the other accused have fled to Nepal
Nainital SSP Pankaj Bhatt said that two teams have been formed to trace the accused.
