A businessman was found dead in his car from snake bites. Police say his girlfriend hired a snake charmer to kill him.

• A businessman was found dead in his car with snakebites, Indian media outlets reported.
• Police say his girlfriend enlisted the help of a snake charmer to kill him with a cobra.

A 30-year-old businessman was found dead in his car in northern India, with police saying his girlfriend, along with a snake charmer, a friend, and two housekeepers conspired to kill him by unleashing a cobra on him, according to The Hindustan Times.

Police found Ankit Chauhan's body on July 15, inside a car parked on the side of the road with its ignition still on, Haldwani's senior superintendent of police Nainital Pankaj Bhatt said, per The Hindustan Times.

Bhatt told the newspaper that police initially thought that Chauhan had died accidentally of carbon monoxide poisoning, but postmortem results told a different story.

Those results suggested that he had died due to "snake venom," Bhatt said, according to the newspaper.

Chauhan was found with two snake bites on his leg, Indian newspaper Amar Ujala reported.

According to The Economic Times, the call log of the man's girlfriend, Mahi Arya, showed that she'd been in contact with Ramesh Nath, a snake charmer based in Uttar Pradesh, police said. The Economic Times reported that Arya had paid Nath 10,000 rupees, or $121.88, to have Chauhan bitten.

Police arrested Nath on Monday, Bhatt said, per The Hindustan Times.

During a police interrogation, he said that Arya, her friend Deep Kandpal, and two housekeepers conspired to kill Chauhan, Bhatt said, according to Indian media reports.

Nath also told police that Arya had taken the "extreme step" because Chauhan used to abuse her when he was drunk, per The Hindustan Times.

Police said the incident took place on July 14, when Chauhan visited Mahi's home, with the four others present at the scene, according to The Hindustan Times.

"They probably made him drink alcohol or some other substance which made him unconscious and then unleashed the cobra on him," Bhatt said, per the newspaper.

Chauhan's sister filed a complaint with the police, naming Mahi and Kandpal as suspects in the killing, police told The Hindustan Times.

Five people have been charged with murder, police said, which carries a punishment of death or life imprisonment.

Police are still looking for Arya, Kandpal, and the two housekeepers, Indian media outlet NDTV reported.