In a case that seems ripped from a thriller screenplay, a 28-year-old bakery owner from Vasai East, Amit Singh, was arrested on Thursday for allegedly murdering his girlfriend, Priya Singh, and attempting to bury the crime using methods eerily similar to the Bollywood hit Drishyam. The chilling saga, which spanned two months, involved a swamp, a discarded phone, and a desperate bid to outsmart the police—a plan that ultimately unraveled due to overlooked details.
From Love Story to Nightmare
Priya Singh, a 25-year-old from Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, had big dreams. Armed with a B.Ed. degree, she was preparing for competitive exams while juggling a long-distance relationship with Amit, whom she met two years ago in their hometown. According to police, the duo grew close quickly, with Priya frequently flying to Mumbai for brief meetups.
Their relationship took a dark turn in December 2023. On December 16, Priya traveled to Vasai to visit Amit, and the couple checked into a hotel in Sativali. What began as a reunion soon turned toxic. “Priya wanted marriage, but Amit’s family opposed the relationship. This led to heated arguments,” said Avinash Ambure, Deputy Commissioner of the Mira-Bhayander-Vasai Virar (MBVV) Crime Branch.
A Distress Call and a Warning
Tensions boiled over on December 23 when Priya dialed the Waliv police multiple times, accusing Amit of assault. Officers summoned the couple to the station, issued Amit a stern warning, and assumed the matter was resolved. But just two days later, on Christmas Day, Amit allegedly lured Priya to a secluded mangrove area in Naigaon under the guise of a “talk.”
There, police claim, Amit strangled Priya with her own sweatshirt and dumped her body in a swamp. To throw investigators off track, he then executed a plan seemingly borrowed from Drishyam—a film where a family hides a crime by manipulating digital evidence. On December 26, Amit switched on Priya’s phone near Vasai railway station and tossed it into the trash bin of a Delhi-bound express train.
The Unraveling
The scheme began crumbling when Priya’s parents reported her missing on December 27. Gorakhpur’s AIIMS GKP police station traced her last-known location to Vasai and discovered her phone had pinged near the railway station. “Both their phones were active there on December 26,” said Sub-Inspector Shivanshu Singh, who led the probe from Uttar Pradesh.
Amit initially claimed he’d dropped Priya at the station after she grew upset over his family’s rejection. But when a team from Gorakhpur tracked Priya’s phone to Delhi’s Hazrat Nizamuddin station, they found it in the hands of a ragpicker. “The phone was wrapped in white paper—a red flag. Criminals often disguise evidence this way,” explained SI Singh.
The ragpicker revealed she’d found the device in a train trash can, confirming suspicions of foul play. With Amit’s alibi discredited, the MBVV Crime Branch zeroed in on him.
Confession and Recovery
After hours of interrogation, Amit broke down and confessed, according to Senior Inspector Shahuraj Ranaware. He led police to the Naigaon swamp, where Priya’s decomposed body and the murder weapon—her sweatshirt—were recovered. “He thought dumping the phone in a moving train would confuse us. But he didn’t account for location data or witnesses,” said Ranaware.
A Community in Shock
The arrest has sent ripples through Vasai, where Amit’s bakery was a local staple. Neighbors described him as “quiet” and “polite,” making the crime all the more jarring. Meanwhile, Priya’s family in Gorakhpur is devastated. “She was ambitious and kind. We never imagined her love story would end like this,” a relative told reporters.
Lessons from the Silver Screen?
While police stopped short of directly blaming Drishyam, the parallels are undeniable. The 2015 film revolves around a man who fabricates an alibi using technology and misdirection—tactics Amit attempted to replicate. “Movies can give criminals ideas, but real-life investigations rely on forensics and persistence,” noted DCP Ambure.
Amit has been charged with murder and destruction of evidence. As forensic teams work to solidify the case, the MBVV police have a blunt message: “There’s no perfect crime. Truth always finds a way.”
