Bhubaneswar: In a fresh development in the grisly murder of the missing female constable in Bhubaneswar, the arrest of her husband has now prompted Odisha Police to re-examine circumstances leading to his first wife's death. The latter's kin have now demanded a fresh probe into her death which was initially termed as an accident.

The accused, Deepak Rout, a constable working in the accounts department of Police Sewa Bhawan, had been arrested after he confessed to have killed traffic cop and his second wife Subhamitra Sahu. After Sahu's body was seized, it was found that she had been insured for Rs 1 crore. Meanwhile, the death of Deepak's first wife - which was earlier brushed off as a mishap - also grabbed police attention after it was found that he had received Rs 1 crore insurance payout as a beneficiary.

Probe had revealed that Deepak's first wife Aparna Priyadarshini was a Revenue Inspector from Tilapada village in Dhenkanal district. The duo had tied the knot on April 15, 2018. On March 17, 2022, they were coming in a car from Dhenkanal to Bhubaneswar when Aparna wanted to attend nature's call. When she stepped out of the vehicle near Radhadamodarpur in Khuntuni, a speeding truck reportedly hit her. Deepak's police complaint had stated that he had to rush Aparna to a private hospital in Cuttack as the ambulance did not reach on time. She, however, passed away during treatment. Though subsequent police investigation had not found any details of the truck involved in the accident, the case had been termed as an accidental death.

Two years later, he had married Subhamitra - a traffic police constable attached with Bhubaneswar Urban Police District. During interrogation, Deepak had admitted to have killed her. He confessed to have picked up Subhamitra in his Honda City car and strangled her between 2-3 pm in Unit-6 area of Bhubaneswar. He then drove to Keonjhar where he buried the body in a forest in Ghatagaon. While the exact motive behind the murder is still being probed, financial dispute over Rs 10 lakh is believed to have soured things between the couple. 

The case had grabbed headlines after the mysterious disapperance of Subhamitra on September 6 turned out to be a gruesome murder following police recovery of her body from Keonjhar.