Ragpicker held for murdering man in Noida park

Noida: Gautam Budh Nagar police arrested a suspect on Tuesday for allegedly murdering a man at a park in Harola area

Noida: Gautam Budh Nagar police arrested a suspect on Tuesday for allegedly murdering a man at a park in Harola area.

Ragpicker held for murdering man in Noida park

Police said that after the murder, the suspect changed the victim’s clothes and stole his Aadhaar card in order to hide his identity. The suspect has been identified as Rajendra Thapa, a resident of New Ashok Nagar, while the victim has been identified as Mintu Singh, a native of Bihar. The incident took place at Mahila Park in Harola around 2am on Tuesday.

“We identified the suspect with the help of CCTV footage and were able to trace him. He was arrested from a spot near Labour Chowk area in Harola on Tuesday night. The t-shirt of the victim and a knife that was used in the crime have also been recovered,” said Ashutosh Dwivedi, additional deputy commissioner of police (Noida).

ADCP Dwivedi added that the suspect is a ragpicker and used to sleep in the park bench where the incident took place. “On the night of the incident, he found Mintu sleeping on the park bench and in a fit of rage, he stabbed him multiple times in an inebriated state,” he said.

Police said that the suspect used to commit petty crimes in nearby areas and a couple of days before the murder incident; he was also seen stealing a domestic gas cylinder from a house in Harola.

The suspect was booked under Section 302 (punishment for murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on the basis of a complaint filed by the victim’s son. He was produced before a court and sent to judicial custody on Wednesday, police added.