Four years after Ghaziabad man goes missing, body found buried in neighbour’s house; two arrested

Over four years after 46-year-old Chandravir Singh, a resident of Sikrod near Delhi-Meerut Road, went missing, the Ghaziabad crime branch on Monday made a sensational disclosure and arrested Singh’s wife and their male neighbour who allegedly murdered the man and buried the body seven foot deep at his house four years ago

Over four years after 46-year-old Chandravir Singh, a resident of Sikrod near Delhi-Meerut Road, went missing, the Ghaziabad crime branch on Monday made a sensational disclosure and arrested Singh’s wife and their male neighbour who allegedly murdered the man and buried the body seven foot deep at his house four years ago.

Ghaziabad, India - November 14, 2022: Ghaziabad Crime Branch and Nand Gram Police personnel arrested two accused for allegedly killing Chandraveer alias Pappu, who was missing for 4 years, in Ghaziabad, India, on Monday, November 14, 2022. (Photo by Sakib Ali /Hindustan Times)

The police said Singh was reported missing on September 28, 2018, and an FIR of abduction was lodged at Sihani Gate police station. However, despite efforts, the police could not trace the missing man and filed a closure report in the case in April 2021.

Singh’s family has a flourishing agriculture business, apart from several land holdings in Sikrod, police said.

A fortnight ago, senior officials while reviewing cases of missing persons, tasked the crime branch to reopen the investigation into Singh’s disappearance. The crime branch then roped in local intelligence and came to know that Singh’s wife Savita Singh, 35, and her neighbour Anil Kumar, 36, who was unmarried, were on very friendly terms and this had caused frequent altercations between the husband and wife. Police said Singh allegedly objected to their closeness and even physically assaulted Savita once over the issue.

“Our team spoke to Singh’s 16-year-old daughter, who after several days revealed that she suspected her mother of being involved in her father’s disappearance. She also told the police that she saw Arun several times coming to their house at night via the terrace. So we questioned Arun at length. He finally broke down and admitted to murdering Singh. He said he and Savita decided to kill him because he objected to their relationship,” said Abdur Rehman Siddiqui, in-charge of Ghaziabad crime branch.

The police said Arun first dug a nearly seven foot deep pit in his house and went to victim’s house on the evening of the incident.

“There, he first shot Singh in the head with a countrymade weapon and drained all the blood in a bucket. They also wanted to leave no identification mark on the body. They tried to remove his steel ‘kadha’ (a thick steel bangle) from were unable to do so. So, Arun chopped off the hand with an axe and put it in a gunny bag. Later that night, they transferred the body to Arun’s house where it was buried in the pit. The chopped off hand was thrown in a drain near a chemical factory in Sikrod,” Siddiqui added.

The police said after burying the body, Arun covered the portion with bricks and debris and after some days he got the entire portion cemented.

After the Singh went missing and an FIR was lodged in 2018, Savita approached the police several times raising suspicions about Singh’s brother, Bhoora Singh, in an effort to mislead the probe.

On Sunday, the crime branch dup up the cemented area in Arun’s house and recovered the remains of the body in the presence of a magistrate.

The police also recovered the countrymade weapon used to kill Singh, the bucket used for collecting the victim’s blood and other items, which were buried separately by his wife. The police said the bucket was unused and forensics confirmed the presence of bloodstains.

The suspects told police that they had been in a relation since 2017. Singh once caught them in a compromising position and this led to frequent altercations.

“The Sihani Gate police could not find much leads in the man missing case in 2018. The case was taken up by the crime branch recently and we worked on several leads. The woman and her male friend murdered Singh and buried the body in a seven foot deep trench,” said Diksha Sharma, superintendent of police (crime).

For now, the police have sent samples from the body remains for DNA testing to establish the identity of the victim and to build a strong case against the two suspects.