Four persons arrested for killing two men, dumping bodies in jungle

The police identified the arrested men by their first names as Shafique (30), Muazmal (25), Kalua (25) and Salman (24), all residents of Rabupura in Greater Noida.

Four men were arrested on Wednesday for killing two persons and dumping their bodies in a jungle along Mehndipur in Rabupura on August 1, the police said.

Gautam Budh Nagar SSP Vaibhav Krishna (left) with the four arrested men (second row). (Sourced)

The police identified the arrested men by their first names as Shafique (30), Muazmal (25), Kalua (25) and Salman (24), all residents of Rabupura in Greater Noida. According to the police, Shafique was outraged at losing his job as his uncle’s tractor driver to one of the victims, Naresh Pal (35). Aslam, the other victim, was Naresh’s friend and both men were residents of Kheda village in Rabupura.

Vaibhav Krishna, Senior Superintendent of Police Gautam Budh Nagar, said both victims had gone missing on July 31. He added that Naresh’s brother Mukesh had filed a missing complaint in Rabupura police station on August 3. The family members and local people had held a protest and halted traffic on Yamuna Expressway on August 4 when the police failed to trace the victims.

Krishna said the missing complaint was updated to a case of abduction the same day. The police launched an investigation and teams from different police stations were engaged to solve the case. Krishna said the police found CCTV camera footage in which the arrested men were seen travelling in a tractor with the two victims in Ballabhgadh.

“One of the arrested men, Shafique, was involved in anti-social activities. His uncle and employer sacked him a few months ago and hired Naresh Pal for the job. Shafique had harboured a grudge against Naresh since then,” he said.

According to the police, on July 31, Naresh and his friend Aslam went to sell fodder in Ballabhgarh. “Shafique roped in his three accomplices and the four men reached there on two motorcycles. The four men offered Naresh and Aslam liquor, who got intoxicated and lost consciousness. The four men then slashed their throats with sharp knives and dumped their bodies in the jungle. They also took ₹25,000 in cash from the victims,” Krishna said. Shafique drove the tractor and abandoned it near Dankaur police station area, he added.

The police said that after murdering the two men, Shafique, Muazmal, and Salman fled to Badaun, while Kalua stayed in Rabupura. He pretended to help the victims’ families in the search and joined the protest at Yamuna Expressway. However, he kept on sharing updates with the other three men. A week-long manhunt led to the arrest of the four men, who admitted their role in the double murder.

The police said they recovered two sharp knives and ₹15,000 from their possession. “The men were produced in court and sent to judicial custody,” the police said. The bodies of the victims were also recovered by the police from the nearby jungle.