Ghaziabad: 35-yr-old killed, body parts thrown in canal; 3 arrested

Police arrested the three suspects on Saturday and also fished out the body parts on their instance out of the canal in Bulandshahr

Ghaziabad: Police have arrested three people, including a woman, in a gruesome case where nine people conspired to murder a 35-year-old interior designer in Ghaziabad on August 16 over his relationship with a woman and then chopped his body into three pieces and then dumped it in a canal late at night, 65 km away, police said on Saturday.

The suspects dismembered Tarun Pawar’s body in three pieces with a spade and an iron-cutter. Later, they threw the body parts in canal, police said. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The police arrested the three suspects on Saturday (August 24) and also fished out the body parts on their instance out of the canal in Bulandshahr, and a further investigation has been launched.

According to police, a total of nine suspects were allegedly involved in the planned murder of designer Tarun Pawar, a resident of a high-rise in Raj Nagar Extension, and destruction of evidence.

On the morning of August 16, Pawar, an interior designer, had stepped out of his house to visit the nearby Morta area for some official work. But he did not return. His father lodged a first information report on August 20 of abduction at Nandgram police station, Ghaziabad.

Police probed the case and identified nine suspects – Anjali Singh, 26, her brother-in-law Akshay Kumar, 28, Pawan Singh, 29, Vansh Singh, 22, Dipanshu Pal, 21, Jite Kumar, 24, Ankur Kumar, 23, Manoj Kumar, 38, and Ankit Singh, 22.

According to police, Tarun lived a separated life from his wife in a high-rise in Raj Nagar Extension. In March, he met Anjali Singh, a help-desk incharge at a nearby high-rise in Raj Nagar Extension, over some work. She too was living a separated life from her husband. They became friends, officials added.

Anjali allegedly had closeness with her brother-in-law Akshay Kumar. Meanwhile, another person Pawan Singh, who worked at the same place with Anjali, was also friend to her. Both Akshay and Pawan did not appreciate Tarun developing closeness with her, it said.

Pawan is also a physical trainer and he roped in his student Dipanshu (to help out in the matter). The latter further roped in his friends in the matter, according to Rajesh Kumar, deputy commissioner of police (DCP) (city).

“In April, both (Akshay and Pawan) planned to murder Tarun. On August 6 and 14, they sent Dipanshu and one Ankit to do recce at Tarun’s office, located in Raj Nagar Extension,” the DCP said.

As per plan, officers said, Dipanshu made several phone calls to Tarun on the pretext of getting some interior design work done at his rented house in Morta. He finally agreed to visit around 11.30am on August 16.

Tarun reached the house at Morta in his Sonet car, but was unaware that Pawan, Vansh, Jite, Ankur, Dipanshu and Ankit were already present there, officers said.

“The suspects overpowered Tarun in the house and beat him up severely. In between, Dipanshu hit Tarun with a rod and the blow ruptured his head. He possibly died soon after,” said the DCP.

“The suspects then waited for night and took the body around midnight in Pawan’s Wagon-R car to his native place BB Nagar, Bualndshahr (about 65km from Ghaziabad). There, they dismembered the body in three pieces with a spade and an iron-cutter. Later, they threw body parts in canal,” the DCP added.

The officials added that before proceeding to Bulandshahr for disposing the body, suspects parked Tarun’s car at a parking of a private hospital in Ghaziabad.

After Tarun’s father registered an FIR for abduction on August 20, police teams got hold of a CCTV footage in which Dipanshu and Ankit were seen entering Tarun’s office on August 6 and 14.

Officers said that the teams, on the basis of electronic surveillance, reached Bulandshahr where father of a suspect, Vansh, identified Dipanshu and Ankit in the CCTV footage.

Officers said that Vansh was arrested on Saturday, and on his disclosure the police later arrested Pawan and Anjali who revealed the entire plot.

“Six people are still absconding and our teams are trying to trace them. From the canal, we recovered a portion of the human leg after the suspects pointed us to the location where they dumped the body parts. DNA testing will soon be taken up and teams are also searching for other body parts,” the DCP added.