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‘Bitter’ drinks and a secret girlfriend: How US cops caught Indian techie for wife’s murder

Nine months after 27-year-old Raajitha Sabbineni was found dead at her residence in Washington, the police have charged her husband, Indian techie Avinash Narne, with her murder. The US investigators found that the 30-year-old had a girlfriend to whom he sent a photo of his wife’s body. On the day she died, the woman also complained to Narne about the smoothie he prepared tasting like ‘cough syrup’

Avinash Narne, an Indian techie from Telangana, has been charged in the killing of his wife, Raajitha Sabbineni, last October. Image Courtesy: KING5 Seattle/@M9USA_/X

FP Explainers|Jul 09, 2026, 11:41:20 IST

A 27-year-old’s death at her residence in Washington, US, turned out to be a pre-planned murder by her husband, an Indian techie. The Bellevue Police in Washington have now arrested the 30-year-old Indian, identified as Avinash Narne, and charged him with first-degree murder of Raajitha Sabbineni.

And how did the cops unravel this murder mystery? The woman’s complaints about the smoothies her husband made tasting like “cough syrup” emerged as the key clue in the murder.

Raajitha found dead last October

>> On October 27, 2025, Narne — a software development engineer from Secunderabad in Telangana — called the police to report that his wife, Raajitha, was locked in the bathroom and was not responding.

>> When officers arrived at the apartment situated at 13700 block of Northeast 10th Street, they forced entry into the bathroom and found Raajitha lying on the floor. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

What investigators found after Raajitha’s death

>> At first, the Bellevue Police treated the matter as a suicide. However, statements made by Narne and clues suggested otherwise.

>> The authorities began to scour Narne and Raajitha’s digital records. The data from the front door security and smart lock showed that while Narne had left the house, no one else had entered it. This led officials to rule out the possibility that an unknown intruder had broken in to kill Raajitha.

>> The King County Medical Examiner’s Office also found that Raajitha had died of asphyxia due to strangulation.

>> On further digging, the investigators found that Narne had a “secret relationship” with a woman in India for many years. While they were together, Narne got arranged-married to Raajitha on June 5, 2025. His girlfriend even attended his wedding, officials said.

>> The two kept in touch even after the marriage, officials added. On the day of the killing, Narne had called his girlfriend at least four times, including around the time he told police he was attempting to enter the locked bathroom. He also sent a picture of his wife’s dead body to his girlfriend, officials said.

>> Another vital clue that helped cops narrow in on Narne was the messages that Raajitha had sent before her demise. In a series of messages, Raajitha complained about the drinks that he made for her, “tasting bitter”. On the day of her death, she had messaged her husband that a smoothie he had made tasted like “medicine” and “cough syrup”, said officials.

>> Searches related to poisons on Narne’s electronic devices were also mentioned in the charging documents, as per media reports.