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Ludhiana: Victim beaten to death, set ablaze, 3 friends held: Cops
Deputy commissioner of police (rural) Jaskiranjit Singh Teja said the police recovered a badly charred body, severed into two parts and beyond recognition, on January 5
Eleven days after a charred and mutilated body was found dumped on the Kakka-Dhaula road, the Ludhiana police have solved the blind murder case with the arrest of three men, all acquaintances of the victim, who allegedly killed him over personal rivalry and financial disputes.
The accused have been identified as Munna Kumar (30), Mangal Singh (28) and Rajesh Kumar (33), all residents of Mohalla Hargobind Nagar in Giaspura. The victim was later identified as Sanjay Singh (42), a financier from Giaspura who had gone missing on January 3.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Rural) Jaskiranjit Singh Teja said the police recovered a badly charred body, severed into two parts and beyond recognition, on January 5. The Meharban police registered a murder case against unidentified persons and began investigation. A missing complaint had already been lodged by the victim’s brother, Santosh Kumar, at the Sahnewal police station.
During the probe, police established that Sanjay Singh was last seen in the company of the accused. CCTV footage from nearby areas showed the trio transporting a body on a cart, which helped investigators zero in on them.
Revealing the motive, the DCP said Munna Kumar nursed a grudge against Sanjay as the latter had allegedly developed a relationship with his sister. Rajesh Kumar also held a grudge against the victim after being allegedly cheated in a vehicle deal. Sanjay had helped Rajesh purchase a pickup auto on instalments. Although Rajesh paid ₹1 lakh as down payment, he failed to clear some instalments. Sanjay later got the vehicle repossessed and falsely told Rajesh that recovery agents had taken it away, further deepening the animosity.
The police said the trio called Sanjay to their rented accommodation on January 3 on the pretext of a meeting. Once he arrived, they tied his arms and assaulted him with iron rods, killing him on the spot. They also robbed him of ₹50,000 in cash, they said
After committing the murder, the accused hid the body in their rented room for two days. On January 5, they loaded it onto a cart and dumped it at an isolated spot on Kakka-Dhaula road, where they set it on fire in an attempt to destroy evidence before fleeing the city.
DCP Teja said Munna Kumar has a criminal history and was lodged in Ludhiana Central Jail in two cases, including kidnapping and drug peddling, and had recently come out on bail. Rajesh Kumar is facing trial in a murder and drug peddling case, while Mangal Singh is an accused in a rape case. After securing bail in their respective cases, the three started living together in a rented accommodation.
Inspector Avtar Singh, in charge of CIA staff-1, said the police have recovered the iron rods used in the crime and the victim’s motorcycle from the accused. He said teams tracked and arrested the accused from different locations after they fled Ludhiana. Further investigation is underway.
