The blue drum murder trial in Meerut has ended with death sentences for both accused, which cannot be carried out unless the High Court confirms them.
Meerut: Two weeks after convicting them, a court in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, on Wednesday sentenced Muskan Rastogi and Sahil Shukla to death for the murder of Saurabh Rajput, Muskan’s husband, whose dismembered body was concealed in a blue drum [Saurabh Rajput murder case, Meerut].
The trial was conducted in the court of District Judge Arvind Mishra. It reserved judgment on September 19 and, on September 30, 2026, held both accused guilty of killing Rajput and then concealing his dismembered body. A fine was also imposed on each convict.
The sentencing hearing
Renu Devi, the victim’s mother, had asked for the death penalty for both accused before the judgment and repeated that demand once they were convicted.
On the question of sentence, the prosecution pressed for the maximum punishment. The defence asked for leniency, arguing that no one had witnessed the murder and pointing to the future and care of the convicts’ children.
Counsel who spoke to the media after the verdict said the court did not accept those pleas, given the evidence the prosecution led, which he described as strong and precise. The written sentencing order, with the court’s reasons, is yet to be made available.
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The prosecution’s case and the trial
Rajput, a 29-year-old former Merchant Navy officer, was killed in Meerut on March 3, 2025. The prosecution’s case was that his wife Muskan conspired with Sahil, her schoolmate who later became her partner, to murder him, and that the body was then cut up, packed into a blue plastic drum and sealed with cement to hide the crime. Both were arrested about 15 days after the killing.
The case drew wide public attention from the start: in March 2025, a crowd of lawyers tried to attack the two accused when they were produced at the Meerut court. The trial itself opened in July 2025 on a police chargesheet of about 1,000 pages, and over more than 100 hearings the prosecution examined 22 witnesses.
Confirmation, then appeal
The trial court must send the proceedings to the High Court, because a death sentence passed by a Sessions Court cannot be carried out until the High Court confirms it. The convicts can also appeal against conviction and sentence before the Allahabad High Court, which will examine the evidence afresh and decide whether the case meets the “rarest of rare” standard the Supreme Court has laid down for the death penalty.
Case: Saurabh Rajput murder case (blue drum murder), Meerut (cause title and case number not reported)
Court: Court of District Judge Arvind Mishra, Meerut
Conviction: September 30, 2026; Sentence: October 14, 2026