Two cab drivers get life term for killing passenger in Gurugram

Court convicts duo for 2022 murder after fare dispute; victim’s body found dumped near Dwarka Expressway site.

A sessions court in Gurugram has sentenced two cab drivers to rigorous life imprisonment for murdering a passenger by crushing his head with a boulder following a fare dispute in April 2022, officials said.

Victim beaten, head crushed with boulder; CCTV footage aided police in arresting accused. (Shutterstock)

Additional district judge Sunil Kumar Dewan convicted Jatin Jadon of Aligarh and Umesh Chand of Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, under Sections 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code on Saturday and imposed a fine of ₹50,000 each.

Sandeep Turan, public relations officer of Gurugram, said, “They were never granted bail by the court after their arrest on April 21, 2022.”

“The deceased was Sunil Kumar, who hailed from Mahendragarh. He had reached Gurugram via train for some personal work on the night of April 10, 2022,” he said.

According to Turan, Kumar hired a cab driven by Jadon, but an argument over fare ensued. “He finally hired the cab… however, Jadon and Kumar had an argument over the fare on the way,” he said.

The accused took him to Bajghera along the under-construction Dwarka Motorway. “He, along with Chand… assaulted him… crushed his head with a boulder and fled after dumping the body in a ditch,” Turan said.

The body was found on April 11 and initially unidentified. Inspector Aman Yadav, then station house officer of Bajghera police station, delayed cremation against police’s standard operating protocol in such cases, enabling identification by family. Additionally, the CCTV footage near railway stations had helped arrest the accused.