Ranchi, Jul 7 (PTI) A 29-year-old man was allegedly beheaded by his wife and her lover in Jharkhand's Ranchi district, with police recovering the victim's head 17 days after his torso was found, an officer said on Tuesday.

Sanjay Lohra, a resident of Manjhidih village in the Tamar police station area, was allegedly murdered as his wife wanted to marry her lover, police said.

Lohra's partially burnt headless torso was recovered from the Tetartanr forest area in the Bundu police station area on June 19.

Acting on information provided by the accused during interrogation, police said they recovered his head from the Rani forest near Sundardih village in the Tamar police station area, where it had allegedly been buried.

The accused have been identified as Subodhini Devi and her lover, Raman Seth. Both were detained for questioning on Monday, they said.

"During interrogation, Devi disclosed that she was in an extramarital relationship with Seth and wanted to marry him. The two allegedly conspired to kill Lohra," an officer of Bundu police station said.

Seth, along with two other associates, allegedly beheaded Lohra after the murder. Raids are underway to arrest the two absconding accused, he said.

Bundu SDPO Om Prakash said the investigation initially posed a challenge as the victim's head was missing, making identification difficult.

"It had become a blind murder case for investigators. It was difficult to establish the victim's identity without the head. However, technical and forensic evidence helped us identify the deceased as Sanjay Lohra," he said.

Following the identification, police detained Lohra's wife on suspicion of involvement in the murder, leading to the disclosure of the alleged conspiracy, he said.

Police said they have also seized a car suspected to have been used to transport and dispose of the victim's body. PTI RPS RPS SOM