Cuttack: Cuttack Rural Police have filed a charge sheet against constable Deepak Rout for allegedly killing his wife, Aparna Priyadarshini, to claim insurance money.

The charge sheet, running into nearly 300 pages, has been submitted in the Athagarh SDJM court. Police have named around 30 to 32 witnesses in the case. Deepak has been charged under multiple sections of the IPC, including Section 302 (murder), Section 498A (cruelty related to dowry), and Section 201 (destruction of evidence).

The case gained prominence after the accused was earlier linked to another murder involving his second wife, Subhamitra Sahu. She had gone missing on September 6, and later investigations revealed that she was allegedly murdered by Deepak for an insurance amount of Rs 1 crore. Her body was reportedly buried to conceal the crime. The case came to light on September 17.

Following this revelation, suspicions resurfaced regarding the death of Aparna, Deepak’s first wife. Her family had earlier alleged that she was murdered. However, at the time of her death on March 17, 2022, under Khuntuni police limits, the case was registered as an accident.

After the Subhamitra murder case unfolded, police reopened Aparna’s case and registered it as a murder.