Senior Delhi cop’s son missing, probe on

Delhi Police are investigating the disappearance of a lawyer who went missing in Haryana. The lawyer is the son of a serving assistant commissioner of police. One person who was with the lawyer has been caught, while another is still missing. The person caught claims that the lawyer was murdered over a financial dispute with the missing person. Search operations are being conducted to find the lawyer or his body. Police are also considering the possibility of the disappearance being linked to criminals or a gang.

Days after the 25-year-old son of a serving assistant commissioner of police went missing in Haryana, the Delhi Police have begun investigating the matter, officers aware of the case said on Thursday.

Senior Delhi cop’s son missing, probe on

Investigators said Lakshya Chauhan — a practicing 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 has been missing since, with his mobile switched off.

Subsequently, ACP Singh filed a missing person’s report at the Samaypur Badli police station on Tuesday night. One of the people Chauhan left with — a court accountant — is also untraceable, the investigators said, adding that the other person, a court staffer, was nabbed on Thursday.

Police said the court staffer they nabbed claimed that Chauhan was murdered over a financial dispute that he had with the court accountant. However, they said, any confirmation of the alleged murder can only be made if the body is found, or the absconding accountant is caught.

“As per the court staffer’s version of events, Chauhan had loaned some money to the accountant. 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.

“We are verifying his version, and cannot completely rely on his claims, as he is frequently changing his statement. Also, the body of the missing lawyer has not been found and the absconding accountant is not caught,” the officer said, adding that they have reached out to the Haryana Police to help find the missing lawyer or his body.

By Thursday evening, police said, search operations had begun in canals in and around Panipat, while raids were being conducted at possible hideouts of the absconding accountant.

The officer said since Chauhan was the son of a senior police officer, investigators are also probing whether the disappearance is linked to criminals or a gang.