3 min readVadodaraJun 24, 2026 12:56 PM IST
For nearly nine years, two files gathered dust in separate police stations in Ahmedabad. One was a missing person’s report filed at the Kalupur police station by a worried husband who claimed his wife had vanished without explanation during the night. The other was a general diary entry recording an accidental death at the Riverfront West police station. It was only when the Ahmedabad Detection of Crime Branch began investigating cold cases a few weeks ago that the connection between the cases came to light.
On Tuesday, the Ahmedabad police arrested tailor Minesh Solanki, 32, on charges of murdering his 22-year-old wife, Komal—almost nine years after he reported her missing.
Kalupur residents Minesh and Komal got married in 2017 after a nearly three-year relationship. But their marriage was marked by frequent domestic disputes, the police said, adding that Minesh soon began plotting his wife’s murder.
According to the police, the Rath Yatra festival was scheduled to be celebrated in Ahmedabad on June 25, 2017. Minesh allegedly decided to use the celebrations—thousands gathered on the streets to participate in the festivities—as a cover. He spent the entire day with Komal. That evening, he allegedly led her to the Sabarmati Riverfront, struck up a conversation with her, and hurled her into the river.
The next day, Minesh reported Komal missing at Kalupur police station. Earlier in the morning, the Riverfront West police had recovered an unidentified woman’s body—but the connection between the two went unnoticed.
Nobody claimed Komal’s body
According to the Crime Branch, the breakthrough in Komal’s case came after officers received specific intelligence suggesting that her death, long treated as an accident, may have been a homicide.
Nobody claimed Komal’s body, and it was disposed of as per protocol, the police said.
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Police Inspector A P Jebaliya, who led the probe, said investigators are still trying to determine why Komal’s body went unclaimed. “That continues to remain an unanswered question. It is likely there was a communication gap, because when Minesh approached the Kalupur station, her body had already been recovered at Riverfront hours ago…,” he added.
“Komal’s family never approached the police looking for her. Possibly, Minesh made use of this gap by misleading the police,” he added.
A man with a criminal record
Minesh has a prior criminal record. Police records show he was booked for cheating and criminal breach of trust at Vadodara’s Makarpura police station in 2019, for violating the Gujarat Prohibition Act at Dariyapur police station in 2022, and in another Prohibition Act case at Gambhoi police station in 2025.
Three years after Komal’s death, Minesh remarried. His second wife had two children from a previous marriage. Together, the couple now have a daughter and are expecting another child.
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His custody will now be transferred to the Riverfront West police station.
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