Delhi: Man abducted, strangled to death by brothers, 3 nabbed

The accused told police, after killing the victim, stuffed his body in a plastic bag and dumped it in a lake in outer Delhi last week

Three men, including two brothers, were arrested for allegedly kidnapping and murdering a 51-year-old man who was allegedly “blackmailing them” to conceal their illegal business practices, police said Monday.

According to police, the primary suspects are brothers Nitin Yadav, Amit Yadav, both in their 40s, and Krishan Kumar, 20. (Representational image)

The accused told police, after killing the victim, stuffed his body in a plastic bag and dumped it in a lake in outer Delhi last week.

According to police, the primary suspects are brothers Nitin Yadav, Amit Yadav, both in their 40s, and Krishan Kumar, 20. The brothers operated a godown in Samaypur Badli that was involved with selling duplicate electrical equipment such as switches and sockets.

The victim was identified by police as Putul Kumar Gohain, who worked as a field investigator for a private Mumbai-based firm that conducted surveys and raids to check copyright infringement for other companies. He lived with his wife, Rupali Gohain, 40, and three children in a rented accommodation in Rohini’s Sector 17.

Police said the accused told them that Gohain had been blackmailing them and demanding money in return for not reporting against them and their illegal business to the authorities. The brothers suspected that Gohain later tipping off authorities, leading to a raid on their godown, a case under the Copyright Act, and its eventual sealing.

Enraged, they allegedly lured Gohain to Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar, assaulted and strangled him to death in Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar. They then stuffed his body in a plastic bag and dumped it in an isolated place in outer Delhi last week, police said on Monday.

Police said Gohain’s wife filed a missing person’s complaint on February 18, after she could not reach out to him. She told police that her husband left home on the morning of February 17 after telling the family he was going to Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar.

Suspicion soon fell on the Yadav brothers due to their past run-ins with him.

The arrests were made between Thursday and Monday, however, body of the victim could not be found till Monday evening because the accused were repeatedly misleading the police about the location, an investigation officer aware of the case, said.

Initially, the brothers said that they had dumped the body in Munak Canal, the officer said.

“The brothers suspected that Gohain might have given tip-offs to the police about their duplicate products. They were already annoyed with him due to the previous raids in which he was involved. The latest raid that also led to the sealing of their godown triggered their anger and made them hatch a plan to kill him,” the officer said.

Deputy commissioner of police (outer-north) Nidhin Valsan said, “Apart from the two brothers, we have arrested another suspect in the kidnapping and murder case. The probe is on to establish Kumar’s role while efforts are being made to recover the body.”