Muskan Rastogi and her lover Sahil Shukla were sentenced to death for the murder of Saurabh Rajput.
Muskan and Sahil were arrested on March 18 after returning from their trip. February 24-25, 2025: Saurabh Rajput returns to Meerut from London. March 4, 2025: Muskan and Sahil Shukla allegedly drug Saurabh, stab him to death and dismember his body. Mid-March 2025: Muskan allegedly tells her maternal family about the murder. A police case follows, and Saurabh’s remains are recovered from the drum on March 17. March 18, 2025: Muskan and Sahil are arrested. March 19, 2025: A court sends the duo to 14 days of judicial custody. May 12, 2025: Police file a nearly 1,000-page chargesheet, including around 34 witness statements.
Muskan had allegedly told her maternal family about the murder, following which the police were approached. Muskan Rastogi’s birthday is celebrated the following day. His remains are packed into a blue drum with cement and sand. The duo leaves for Himachal Pradesh. The charges include murder and destruction of evidence.
MEERUT: More than 19 months after merchant Navy officer Saurabh Rajput was murdered, his body dismembered and his remains concealed in a blue plastic drum filled with cement, a Meerut court on Wednesday sentenced his wife Muskan Rastogi and her lover Sahil Shukla to death. November 24, 2025: Muskan gives birth to a girl while in custody. March 2025-September 2026: The trial spans around 13 months, with 22 prosecution witnesses examined. September 17, 2026: Final arguments conclude, with the prosecution seeking the death penalty for both accused. September 30, 2026: Muskan and Sahil are convicted of murder and destruction of evidence. The court fixes October 14 for sentencing. October 14, 2026: A Meerut court sentences Muskan and Sahil to death. Rajput’s mother, Renu Devi, had sought the death penalty after the conviction, saying the family had waited 18 months for justice.
Following Wednesday’s verdict, she expressed gratitude and said she hoped the punishment would serve as a deterrent and spare other families similar trauma. She and the newborn are shifted to a women’s barrack. Saurabh’s family seeks a DNA test to establish the child’s paternity.
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The case became widely known as the “blue drum murder case” because of the manner in which Rajput’s remains were concealed. Download the TOI App.
A chargesheet, forensic evidence and 22 witnesses
The case, which came to light in March 2025, went through 126 court hearings and the examination of 22 prosecution witnesses before the district and sessions court convicted the two on September 30. Rajput, 35, returned to Meerut from London on February 24-25, 2025. Muskan and Sahil drugged Rajput and stabbed him to death on March 4 before dismembering his body and placing the remains in a blue plastic drum filled with cement and sand, according to the prosecution. The crime came to light in mid-March after a foul smell emanating from the drum led to the discovery of Rajput’s remains on March 17. Police filed a chargesheet of nearly 1,000 pages on May 12, 2025. The prosecution examined 22 witnesses, including Rajput’s family members, a cab driver, a medical store owner and people who allegedly sold the knife, drum and cement used in the crime. The trial lasted around 13 months and involved 126 hearings. Final arguments concluded on September 17, with the prosecution seeking the maximum punishment. On September 30, district and sessions judge Arvind Kumar Mishra convicted Muskan and Sahil of murder and destruction of evidence. The court then fixed October 14 for sentencing, allowing the two to make submissions on the punishment. The court also imposed fines of Rs 50,000 each for murder and Rs 20,000 each for destruction of evidence.
Investigators said the accused had initially considered disposing of the body in a suitcase but turned to the drum after they could not fit the remains inside it. Police said there was no eyewitness to the killing. The prosecution had sought the death penalty for both. Muskan’s birthday was celebrated the following day. The two then left for Himachal Pradesh. It included forensic reports, call detail records, CCTV footage and statements from people connected to the investigation. Investigators also recorded statements from hotel staff in Shimla, Manali and Kasauli, where the accused allegedly stayed after the murder. The prosecution relied on the evidence collected during the investigation to establish the case against Muskan and Sahil.
Both appeared before the court through video conferencing during the proceedings. On Wednesday, the court sentenced them to death, with prosecution lawyer KK Chaubey saying the judge referred to the Mahabharata while observing that punishing the guilty in proportion to the intensity of their crime was also ‘dharma’.