The police said on Tuesday that Jonali Nath, a woman BJP leader from Assam’s Goalpara district whose body was discovered on Sunday night next to the highway, was murdered by her partner Hasanur Islam.
The police detained Hasanur on Monday evening.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) said that for more than two years, the deceased woman had an affair with Hasanur.
Hasanur is a ward member of the Congress in Goalpara’s Matia area, while Jonali served as the district secretary of the BJP in Goalpara.
Jonali was married and she got involved with Hasanur in an illicit relationship two years ago.
Inspector General of CID, Debraj Upadhyay, said that Hasanur Islam has admitted during interrogation of having an affair with Jonali for more than two years, but said that he had recently married another woman which upset Jonali.
Upadhyay said that Hasanur also admitted that on Sunday night, Jonali came to meet him. He picked her up in his car after which a quarrel broke out between the two inside the car.
“He hit her many times on the face after she questioned him about his marriage, rendering her unconscious,” the officer said.
While the doctors said that a hard object was used to kill her, Hasanur told the police that he hit her on the face until she passed out.
“When he realised she was dead, he abandoned her near the road and drove off. He also banged her head on the car. The car has bloodstains on it,” Upadhyay added.
The bloodstains on the car matched those of Jonali, according to the police, which also claimed to have verified Hasanur’s ownership of the vehicle.
The police said that when Jonali found out about Hasanur’s wedding, she began calling him, but he initially avoided her.
Hasanur later agreed to meet her on Sunday, and picked her up from a market area in Matia.
According to her relatives, Jonali left the house on Sunday at around 4:30 p.m. for some personal work. Her husband tried to call her after 7 p.m. but couldn’t get through. The body was discovered around midnight after the family members contacted the police.
Upadhyay said that Hasanur had switched off Jonali’s mobile phone at 7:13 p.m. because he didn’t want any interruptions.
The police located her after scanning her call logs.
Meanwhile, many of Jonali’s supporters claimed that she was raped before being killed. however, Rajesh Reddy, district superintendent of police, told IANS that there was no sexual assault.
“The body showed no signs of sexual assault, as per the doctors. We are questioning the accused to get further details regarding the case,” Reddy said.
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