Honey trap laid by sweet-talking conwoman ends bitterly

On June 30, a trial court in Gujarat’s Nakhratna sent 40-year-old Manisha Goswami, at the centre of a high-profile suicide case, to judicial custody in Palara jail in Bhuj. The case piqued Gujarat’s interest. There was promiscuity, intrigue and tragedy. Goswami was at the centre of allegations of masterminding a honey trap allegation that resulted in the suicide of Kutch businessman Dilip Ahir.

- Maulik Pathak

But in a twist befitting a crime novel, Goswami allegedly planned the crime from the confines of Bhuj jail, where she was lodged after being arrested for the murder of Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Jayanti Bhanushali, killed aboard a moving train in January 2019.

A woman of substance

Goswami is from Nana Dhavda village in Nakhratna taluka of Kutch district, married Gajjugiri Goswami, a textile trader from Vapi, and began working with Bhanushali, the former BJP MLA from Abdassa. “Manisha learnt the ropes quickly, was a smooth talker, and made connections quickly. She was very ambitious and was even seen giving speeches in small public meetings in villages with Bhanushali standing beside her,” said a journalist from Bhuj who spoke on condition of anonymity.

But by 2018, the relationship had begun to sour.

One Kutch-based politician said there may have been disagreement over some land associated with a dairy. In any case, by April 2018, Jayanti Bhanushali’s nephew, Sunil Banushali filed a complaint at Ahmedabad’s Naroda police station that Goswami was attempting to extort money from him after honey trapping him. He alleged that he was offered a drink that impaired his senses, enabling Goswami to capture intimate video footage of the two of them, which she then used to blackmail him. The police registered a case under sections of 384 (punishment for extortion) and 328 (causing hurt by means of poison) of the Indian Penal Code, and she was arrested in the month of May. Goswami, on her part, alleged that she was a victim and was being harassed by the police. She also shared a video with some local television channels in Kutch alleging she was confined illegally by the police on account of Bhanushali’s political clout.