Four people, including a woman, were arrested for allegedly murdering a man whose dismembered body was found near a river in Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia, police said on Tuesday.

The murder was allegedly plotted by the woman, who is the wife of the victim, her lover and his two friends. While the limbs and the torso of the man have been found, police are still searching for his head.

According to police, the 50-year-old woman, identified as Maya Devi, along with her lover Anil Yadav, his friend Satish Yadav, and a four-wheeler driver, Mithilesh, confessed to having killed Devendra Kumar. They also admitted to having cut his body into six pieces and dumped it near the Ghaghra river.

Ironically, Maya Devi was the one who lodged a missing complaint about Kumar, after which the police launched an investigation on May 10.

“Maya Devi gave a written complaint to Ballia Thana Kotwali on May 10 and said that her husband, Devendra Kumar, who is retired from the BRO wing of the Army, had gone to Buxar railway station in Bihar to pick up his daughter, but had not returned till now and his mobile is also switched off,” Omveer Singh, Superintendent of Ballia, said.

During the investigation, the police found severed parts of Devendra Kumar’s body near the Ghaghra river. On May 12, the police found the torso and ascertained that it was indeed Devendra Kumar’s.

After the body was identified, the police arrested the woman, her lover and his friends. Two of the accused were arrested after a brief police encounter with Anil Yadav sustaining a bullet injury. After their arrest, the accused told the cops that they had dumped Kumar’s body into the Ghaghra river.

The police have engaged divers to search for Devendra Kumar’s head while further investigation into the matter is underway, police added.

With inputs from Anil Kumar Gupta