Ghaziabad: Two arrested for killing 42-year-old cab driver

They planned the kidnapping of a transporter’s son in Delhi’s Najafgarh but ended up murdering on November 20

Two people were arrested from Vijay Nagar in Ghaziabad, near the Delhi-Meerut expressway, on Tuesday for the alleged murder of a 42-year-old cab driver last month whose car they wanted to use for kidnapping a minor for ransom, said police officials.

Based on information retrieved by scanning CCTV cameras on the expressway and information gathered through surveillance methods, the two suspects were nabbed from near the IPEM College area adjacent to the expressway, said police. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

Police identified the prime suspect as 27-year-old Najafgarh resident Govind Kumar and his accomplice as Shani (single name), 21, a resident of Barola. The two are friends and originally from Badaun district in Uttar Pradesh. The victim was Najafgarh local, Hariram Poddar.

They planned the kidnapping of a transporter’s son in Delhi’s Najafgarh but ended up murdering on November 20.

Both Kumar and Shani work as construction workers and had started working about two months ago at a site in Najafgarh near the residence of a transporter, identified as Vipul Kumar Jha.

Ritesh Tripathi, assistant commissioner of police (Vijay Nagar circle), said Kumar roped in Shani in a plan to kidnap Jha’s 11-year-old son. “He thought that the boy’s father had a flourishing business and would part with a huge amount of ransom. For this, they wanted a car to kidnap the child from near his school.”

The two hired an offline cab to Aligarh for ₹3,200. The cab started for Aligarh around 6.30am on November 20.

Midwway during the drive on November 20 afternoon, they asked the victim, Poddar, to take the Delhi-Meerut Expressway (DME) towards Dasna in Ghaziabad, said officials from the Vijay Nagar police station attached to the case’s investigation said. They told Poddar that Kumar’s wife was waiting there and she would accompany them to Aligarh.

“At an isolated spot near Dasna, they overpowered and strangled the driver in the car around 11.30 am,” said an officer linked to case investigation, adding that they then dumped the body below the rear seat and drove back to Najafgarh.

However, their kidnapping plan was foiled because the transporter’s son did not attend the school that day. From Najafgarh, they drove back to Ghaziabad. “In between, they tried to dump the body at three locations but could not find a suitable spot and roamed around,” the officer added. Kumar wanted to extort ₹20 lakh ransom from Jha and had promised ₹4 lakh to Shani.

The ACP said, “The two suspects in the late evening dumped the car, with the body inside, near a high-rise adjacent to the DME in Vijay Nagar.”

Later that night, locals spotted the car and alerted police. “The deceased car owner was identified through the car’s registration number. The autopsy revealed he died of strangulation,” the ACP added.

Officials said that based on CCTV footage, they obtained the suspects’ photos. An informer told them Kumar was a Najafgarh resident.

On December 1, police registered an FIR for murder at Vijay Nagar police station following a complaint from the victim’s family.

Based on information retrieved by scanning CCTV cameras on the expressway and information gathered through surveillance methods, the two suspects were nabbed from near the IPEM College area adjacent to the expressway, said police.