A chilling premeditated murder has come to light in Meerut's Daurala, where a woman, her lover, and a goldsmith conspired to kill her brother by lacing a tetra pack of country-made liquor with cyanide.
Police arrested Alka, Pawan, and goldsmith Ashok alias Soni, who allegedly provided the poison for ₹500, to allegedly kill Ankit alias Daulat.
Ankit's associates, Baburam and Jitendra, consumed the same liquor and died, prompting fears of a hooch tragedy.
However, suspicion deepened when police found that several other people had purchased liquor from the same government outlet without reporting any illness.
Investigations revealed a month-long Google search trail related to cyanide, poisons, and methods of administration on Pawan's mobile phone, establishing premeditation and conspiracy.
The digital evidence was key in the case, and following sustained interrogation, police arrested the three accused and booked them for murder and criminal conspiracy.
Senior police superintendent Avinash Pandey said the conspiracy was aimed at killing Ankit, but the poisoned liquor also killed Baburam and Jitendra.
Investigators said Ankit's opposition to Alka's relationship with Pawan prompted the murder conspiracy, and the three were suspected to have died of toxic or spurious alcohol, but the post-mortem examination confirmed deaths due to cyanide poisoning.
