'Don't Cheat': Jabalpur Man, Who Killed Partner in Hotel Room, Still at Large

The accused had made a video saying, "Don't cheat", as the victim gasped for air under a quilt.

Abhijeet Patidar allegedly slit the throat of his partner Shilpa Jharia, and made a video inside a hotel room saying 'don't cheat', in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh.

(Photo altered by: Deeksha Malhotra/The Quint)

(Trigger Warning: Description of violence. Reader discretion advised.)

While the Delhi Police are still searching for the body parts of Shradhha Walkar, who was allegedly murdered by her live-in partner Aaftab Poonawala, another case of a brutal murder of a 21-year-old woman, Shilpa Jharia has come to light in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur.

A man identified as Abhijeet Patidar allegedly slit Shilpa's throat at Mekhala Resort in Jabalpur. He then made a video saying, "Bewafai nahi karne ka (Don't cheat)" as she gasped for air under a quilt.

The incident is said to have occurred on Monday, 7 November, but the police found out about it only on 8 November. The accused is still on the run.

Abhijeet and Shilpa reportedly met each other on social media and were in a relationship. On 6 November, he reportedly checked into Mekhala Resort, and she joined him for lunch the next day.

After allegedly killing Shilpa, Abhijeet made three purported videos – one of them with the body of Shilpa in the hotel room. 

In another video, he reportedly stated his name and revealed the details of his associates, including a person named Jitendra Kumar, who was his business partner. He alleged that the victim had affairs with them.

He then, in another social media post went on to say, "Babu heaven me milenge (Dear, we will meet in heaven)."

A Timeline of Events

• On Tuesday, 6 November, Abhijeet checked into a room at Mekhala Resort in Jabalpur under a false identity. He was alone that night. 

• On Wednesday, 7 November, Shilpa came to meet him at around noon. They ordered some food. 

• About an hour later, Abhijeet left the hotel room. No one knew what happened inside the hotel room.

• He had shot at least one video while Shilpa was barely alive and posted it on social media. 

• As he posted these videos on social media, he answered a call from Shilpa's younger sister and told her that he had killed her. 

• The hotel staff got suspicious as there was no activity since the afternoon of 7 November.

• On the morning of Thursday, 8 November, when the room services knocked on the door, there was no response. The hotel security forced their way into the room to find the body of Shilpa.

Accused Still at Large

Though the incident came to light around a week ago, the main accused Abhijeet remains at large. 

Shivesh Baghel, Additional Superintendent of Police in Jabalpur, said that multiple teams are actively searching for the accused, adding that a cyber forensic team has also been roped in.

"All the evidence that has come to light till now and the CCTV footage has revealed that he was alone in the room that night. The woman came to meet him in the afternoon the next day, and they also ordered food. After about an hour, the accused left the hotel alone and locked the room behind him."

Shivesh Baghel, Additional Superintendent of Police in Jabalpur

Police also claimed that they have found Patidar's involvement in a previous case of fraud. Prabhat Shukla, Chief Superintendent of police, said:

"Abhijeet is named in another FIR under the charges of fraud with some businessman in Kotwali police station of Jabalpur... All efforts are being made to apprehend him."

Sources say that police have nabbed Jitendra Kumar and Sumit Patel, the alleged associates of Abhijeet from Bihar.

(with inputs from Jabalpur's Shiv Choubey)