Delhi Police confirms murder of missing cop’s son

Police said offence under Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (destruction of evidence) were also added to the initial missing person’s complaint

The Delhi Police on Friday confirmed the murder of a 25-year-old son of an assistant commissioner police, four days he went missing, senior police officers privy to the case said.

Delhi Police confirms murder of missing cop’s son

They said offence under Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (destruction of evidence) were also added to the initial missing person’s complaint filed in the case.

Investigators said Lakshya Chauhan — a practising lawyer who is the son of ACP Yashpal Singh (ops, outer north) — left his home in Mahindra Park near Adarsh Nagar in northwest Delhi with two people to attend a wedding in Bhiwani, Haryana on Monday, but went missing, with his mobile switched off. Chahan’s father reported the matter to the police on Tuesday night.

The police on Friday formally arrested Abhishek Kumar,19 -- one of the two persons Chauhan left with -- after he confessed to killing Chauhan by pushing him into a canal. Kumar was nabbed for questioning on Thursday but the second suspect, Vikas Bhardwaj -- an accountant with another lawyer practising at Tis Hazari -- is yet to be arrested.

An investigator in the case said, “We arrested Kumar after he confessed to murdering Chauhan along with Vikas by pushing him into the Munak canal that is nearly 16-feet deep and has four channels – two flowing towards Delhi and other two towards Haryana. The search for Chauhan’s body continued on Friday. But divers are yet to find it,” the investigator said.

When asked how the police confirmed Chauhan’s death, the officer said that they have ascertained that Bhardwaj has contacted two-three people close to him, seeking legal help after informing them that he has killed Chauhan by pushing him into the canal at Panipat following a heated argument in the early hours on January 23.

“Bhardwaj’s confession matches with the disclosures made by of Kumar,” the investigator said.

“As per the Kumar’s version of events, Chauhan had loaned some money to Bhardwaj. Despite repeated reminders, the accountant was not returning the money, leading to multiple altercations between them. The staffer claims that while returning to Delhi from the venue of the wedding, Chauhan and accountant fought over the same issue, leading to a scuffle in which Chauhan was killed. He claims that the body was thrown into a canal near Panipat,” said a senior police officer, asking not to be named.

Deputy commissioner of police (outer-north) Ravi Kumar Singh said Kumar has told the police that he reached Mukarba Chowk around 3.30pm on January 22, where Chauhan picked him up in his black car. Later, Bhardwaj joined them. They reached the wedding venue in late in the night and left the place after midnight, the DCP said quoting Kumar’s statement.

“On the way, they stopped the car at Panipat and all three came out from the answer the call of nature. When Chauhan was standing near the canal, Bhardwaj and Kumar pushed him into the water. Then, they fled in Chauhan’s car. Bhardwaj dropped Kumar at Narela and drove away,” the DCP added.

He added that the police was yet to find Chauhan’s car.