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Mumbai:  A gruesome double murder shook a residential society in Navi Mumbai in the wee hours of yesterday, as a 29-year-old merchant navy officer emerged from the building in blood-stained clothes and confessed that he had murdered his wife and her lover.

 According to his family and the police, the man had recorded the same confession in a video, before he tried, unsuccessfully, to take his own life. Five years ago, the accused, Dhruvkant Vimal Thakur, and his wife, Susmita, had developed their relationship over WhatsApp, after which they decided to get married.

 According to his sister, Ranjana Jha, it was a whirlwind romance.

 The couple then began to live in sector 19 in Kamothe. All the while, Dhruvkant’s sister remained unaware of the differences between the two so it came as a complete surprise when Susmita demanded a divorce.

The accused was often away for work and about a month and a half ago, his wife asked him to come home urgently. "After he returned, Susmita just handed him the divorce papers through her advocate, saying she was in love with someone else and wanted to marry him. My brother was so much in love with her, he agreed to sign the divorce papers so she would be happy," said Ranjana.

 While his sister said he had come to terms with the fact that Susmita had wanted to leave him for someone else, cops suspect that Dhruvkant had a heated discussion with her and her lover, Ajaykumar on Tuesday, which led to the murder. The building’s watchman, Kamal Singh, said Susmita had packed her bags and left the house last week.

 Dhruvkant was away on work again, but returned a few days later. "Around 6.30 pm on Tuesday, Susmita and Ajaykumar came to the flat together. I don’t think they were aware that the accused was already inside," the watchman added. Almost 12 hours later, at 6 am the next morning, Dhruvkant emerged from the flat in blood-stained clothes and stepped into the lift to go downstairs.

 The building society’s chairman was also in the lift and was alarmed by the blood. "Dhruvkant came out, sat on a chair and asked us to call the police. He claimed he had murdered two people in his house. We informed the police control, and cops turned up in minutes," said the watchman.

 The police officials stated that Dhruvkant had slit Ajaykumar’s throat multiple times in the bedroom, following which he came out to the living room and smothered Susmita with a pillow. "After murdering his wife and her boyfriend, he tried to hang himself by his tie, but it tore. We have booked him under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC. The bodies have been sent for post-mortem," said an officer from Kamothe police station.

 Dhruvkant’s family were shocked by the entire incident and said they were not even aware he was back in the city. "We only found out he had returned when he called a family friend and said he had murdered two people and going to commit suicide. We reached his building at the same time as the police. He had also recorded a video saying he had killed the two of them and was going to commit suicide," said Ranjana.