A plan to buy a new e-rickshaw allegedly ended in murder after a 30-year-old man was robbed and strangled by his acquaintance, who was accompanying him for the purchase. The accused was arrested a day after the victim’s body was recovered near the Agra Expressway in Lucknow’s Kakori area, police said on Thursday.
“The accused, Mujib alias Munna, was arrested a day after the body of Dilip Rawat, also 30, was recovered near the Bhaliya stretch of the Agra Expressway. Police recovered the victim’s mobile phone, ₹4,800 in cash and the e-rickshaw allegedly used in the crime,” said SHO Satish Chandra Rathore.
According to police, Dilip, a resident of Dona village, left home on July 7 carrying ₹80,000 to purchase a new e-rickshaw. Mujib, an acquaintance and fellow e-rickshaw driver, accompanied him to an automobile agency, where Dilip allegedly paid ₹50,000 as a booking amount and ₹1,000 towards driving licence-related formalities.
Police said the two later spent the day consuming alcohol and were joined briefly by another acquaintance, Shakti. During the outing, Dilip also purchased a mobile phone worth around ₹12,000. Investigators alleged that Mujib inserted his own SIM card into the handset.
After Shakti left, the two continued drinking before heading back towards their village. During interrogation, Mujib allegedly confessed that he decided to rob Dilip of his remaining cash and newly purchased phone. Near Nageshwar temple, he allegedly asked Dilip to stop the vehicle on the pretext of smoking before strangling him with a cotton towel, police said.
{{/usCountry}}After Shakti left, the two continued drinking before heading back towards their village. During interrogation, Mujib allegedly confessed that he decided to rob Dilip of his remaining cash and newly purchased phone. Near Nageshwar temple, he allegedly asked Dilip to stop the vehicle on the pretext of smoking before strangling him with a cotton towel, police said.
{{/usCountry}}Police alleged that the accused dumped the body along the service road near the Agra Expressway and fled with the victim’s mobile phone and remaining cash.
The case came to light after Dilip’s brother, Mastram Rawat, lodged a missing person complaint on July 8, stating that Dilip had left home with ₹80,000 to buy an e-rickshaw but never returned.
Mujib has been booked under charges of murder, robbery, destruction of evidence and relevant provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, police said.