Man found murdered, family blames tiff over cricket

Ghaziabad: The family members of a 35-year-old man, whose body was recovered from a residential colony in Loni, have lodged a case of murder against five persons

Ghaziabad: The family members of a 35-year-old man, whose body was recovered from a residential colony in Loni, have lodged a case of murder against five persons accusing them of killing him over an argument over cricket.

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The body of Naresh Kumar was found in the bushes in Puja Colony around 9am. He had left home around 7am on Thursday. The police said the body had several injury marks which seem to have been inflicted in a struggle when the victim resisted a strangulation attempt.

“He left home around 7am and later we were informed that a body was found in the bushes. We identified it as that of Naresh. We suspect that our previous neighbours killed him. We have forwarded a police complaint,” said Som Vir, victim’s father.

The family members said two former neighbours — Naseem and Saleem — and three of their accomplices killed Kumar. In February, the suspects were playing cricket and the ball was hit into Kumar’s house several times. This led to an altercation and the family was beaten up by the accused.

“The family has alleged that the murder was the fallout of a previous altercation. They have named both Naseem and Saleem along with three others. We have lodged a case of murder but will make arrests only after a thorough probe,” said Srikant Prajapati, circle officer (Loni).

Naresh was the second of five brothers and is survived by his parents, two children and a wife who is pregnant. The family members also staged protest for a brief period on state highway-57 . Later, the protesters were dispersed by the police.