Blue Drum Murder Trial: Court Hands Death Penalty to Convicted Meerut Duo

Meerut, India—A Meerut district court sentenced Muskan Rastogi and her partner Sahil Shukla to death on Wednesday for the calculated murder of her husband, former Merchant Navy officer Saurabh Rajput. District Judge Arvind Kumar Mishra delivered the capital punishment verdict following a high-profile trial spanning 126 formal court hearings.

The gruesome homicide occurred in March 2025 after Rajput discovered the illicit affair between Rastogi and her former schoolmate Shukla. Prosecutors proved that the conspirators drugged Rajput before stabbing him to death inside his own home.

Following the lethal stabbing, the duo dismembered Rajput's body into three parts using heavy blades. They stuffed the severed remains inside a large blue plastic drum and filled the container with sand and liquid concrete to conceal the decaying smell.

The crime unravelled weeks later when a foul odor began emanating from the sealed drum inside the dwelling. Police teams seized the container, extracted the concrete block, and discovered Rajput's remains embedded inside the hardened mixture.

Investigators tracked down and arrested Rastogi and Shukla shortly after they returned from a vacation to Himachal Pradesh. Police filed a comprehensive 1,000-page chargesheet incorporating physical ballistics, DNA matching, and official testimonies from 22 prosecution witnesses.

Court proceedings concluded on September 30 when the judge formally convicted both defendants of murder and destruction of state evidence. Prosecution attorneys argued aggressively for the maximum penalty under Indian law, citing the extreme brutality and cold premeditation of the act.

Judge Mishra classified the killing as falling squarely within the "rarest of rare" legal doctrine. The judicial panel noted, "She executed the murder with a calm and composed mind. Consequently, the death penalty was the appropriate punishment for such a premeditated killing."

Rastogi and Shukla appeared for the sentencing hearing via video conferencing link from local correctional facilities due to heightened security concerns. The victim's grieving mother and brother sat quietly inside the packed courtroom as the clerk read out the capital sentence.

Defense attorneys announced immediate plans to challenge the death sentence before the High Court. Both convicts remain held in high-security isolation wards pending the mandatory statutory appeal process.