Greater Noida man’s body found in Mathura canal; five suspects held

During interrogation, it was revealed that deceased Deepak and suspect Gaurav were friends, but a financial dispute soured their relationship

Gautam Budh Nagar police arrested five suspects and detained two minors for allegedly abducting and killing a man in Surajpur area of Greater Noida earlier this week. The deceased’s remains were recovered from a canal in Mathura district on Friday, police said.

The arrested suspects in police custody on Saturday. (HT Photo)

According to police, the five suspects have been identified as Gaurav alias Popaya, Anil alias Cheel, Goldie alias Udayaraj and Rocky, all residents of Surajpur, and Sunny of Rabupura.

“The deceased, identified as Deepak (30), a resident of Surajpur, was reported missing on August 8. Two days later, his father Memchand filed a complaint against local residents Gaurav, Anil and Sunny at the Surajpur police station and a case was registered under Section 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC),” said Rajiv Dixit, additional deputy commissioner of police (Central Noida).

“Police teams were deployed to find Deepak. On Friday, his remains were found in a canal in Mathura,” the ADCP added.

Based on information received from electronic and manual surveillance, police arrested the suspects named in the FIR from the Tilapta roundabout in Surajpur, said police.

“During interrogation, it was revealed that the deceased Deepak and Gaurav were friends, but a financial dispute soured their relationship. Gaurav had lured Deepak from a wedding function and brought him to Anil and Sunny. The suspects strangulated and later stabbed him to death and dumped his body in Hasanpur canal in Dankaur. The suspects also took away his WagonR car. We have recovered the car and two knives used in the murder,” ADCP Dixit said.

Assistant commissioner of police Sumit Shukla said investigation also revealed that all the suspects played a role in the coverup of the crime. “The two juveniles are believed to have cleaned up the blood at the murder spot,” he said.

“The whole matter came to light after the remains of the deceased were traced,” said ACP Shukla, adding that Gaurav needed money for his father’s operation over which he had a financial dispute with Deepak.

The suspects have been booked under charges of murder and kidnapping, police said. “While the adult suspects were produced before a magistrate and sent to judicial custody, the two juveniles were sent to a correction home after being produced before the child welfare committee,” said a senior police officer.