Man gets friend to shoot at forest officer wife in Gujarat's Surat, arrested; victim critical

Surat, Nov 13 (PTI) A man allegedly took the help of a friend in an unsuccessful attempt to get his wife, who is a range forest officer, murdered in Gujarat's Surat district, police said Thursday.

The victim was critically injured after being shot in her head point blank and was undergoing treatment at a hospital here, Surat (Rural) Superintendent of Police Rajesh Gadhiya said.

"Sonal Solanki was on her way to a village in a car on November 6 when accused Ishwarpuri Goswami shot her point blank in the head as soon as she stopped the car. He fled on his motorcycle. Her car hit a tree by the road," Gadhiya said.

While at first it looked like injuries from the ensuing car accident, doctors operating on her found a bullet lodged inside her head, after which a case of attempt to murder was registered, he added.

"Solanki's husband Nikunj Goswami and his friend fled to evade arrest. We formed seven teams involving around 50 policemen to nab them. They were arrested when they came to surrender before a court at Kathor on Wednesday," he told media persons.

Nikunj Goswami tried to murder her because of some ongoing domestic dispute, the official said, adding she had earlier submitted a police complaint against her husband for using a GPS tracker on her car to track her movement.

"Nikunj Goswami later confessed to having involved his friend to murder his wife after conducting a recce of the road through which she passed regularly. Ishwargiri Goswami followed Solanki's car and waylaid it at a secluded place and forced her to stop," he said. PTI COR KA PD BNM