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Businessman, partner murdered in Delhi over ₹20 lakh debt
The three suspects -- factory owner Sandeep Jain (36) and his employees Sunil (27) and Sanjay (28) -- were arrested on Friday morning, hours after the crime, and police also recovered the sickle used to attack the victims.
A 36-year-old businessman and his business partner were murdered and their bodies dumped in two separate locations 10 km away -- Wazirpur Industrial Area and Wazirabad -- allegedly by a factory owner and two of his employees over a ₹20 lakh debt.
The three suspects -- factory owner Sandeep Jain (36) and his employees Sunil (27) and Sanjay (28) -- were arrested on Friday morning, hours after the crime, and police also recovered the sickle used to attack the victims.
After the murders, the accused allegedly stuffed the victims, identified as Surender Gupta (36) and Amit Goel (35), into separate sacks. Gupta’s body was hidden below a commercial elevator shaft installed in Jain’s four-storey factory building, while Goel’s body was driven in the former’s SUV to near Jagatpur flyover in Wazirabad, nearly 10 km away, where the car was abandoned.
Police said the trio then boarded an auto-rickshaw and returned to their respective homes, from where they were caught in the morning.
According to police, Gupta ran a chemical factory in Shahabad Dairy and his friend Goel helped him in his business. They lived with their families in Rohini Sector-3.
“During the interrogation, Jain revealed that he owed ₹20 lakh to Gupta but was unable to pay it because of the losses he suffered due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Jain alleged that Gupta had been threatening him,” said deputy commissioner of police (northwest) Usha Rangnani.
A senior police officer said that Goel’s body was found in the Fortuner SUV by Constable Ajay who was patrolling the streets in north Delhi’s Wazirabad around Thursday midnight.
“The constable alerted the Wazirabad police station and a police team, along with forensic experts, arrived there. They opened the sack and found the body of a man with his throat slit and other stab wounds,” said the officer, who did not want to be named.
A subsequent trace of the vehicle’s registration plates led police to Gupta’s house where his family informed investigators of his disappearance.
During further inquiry, the officer said, it was learnt that in their last conversation with family members around 8.30pm on Thursday, Gupta and Goel had said that they were going to Jain’s factory to demand the payment of ₹20 lakh. Subsequently, Jain was called to the Wazirabad police station.
“When we questioned Jain, he told us that Gupta and Goel had come to his factory but they left around 9 pm. But we inspected his office and found some blood spots. When confronted again, he broke down and confessed to killing Gupta and Goel, along with two of his employees. Jain showed us the elevator shaft from where we recovered the sack containing Gupta’s body. His two employees were also arrested and the sickle used in the murders was recovered,” the officer added.
During the interrogation, the police said, Jain revealed that Gupta and Goel first arrived at his factory around 7 pm to demand the money. Gupta reportedly threatened him and the duo left after Jain sought an hour’s time. They returned again around 8.30pm and demanded the money but Jain and his two employees allegedly attacked and killed them, police said.
“The three first brought down Goel’s body using the elevator and placed it on car’s rear seat. Since, the vehicle did not have space to accommodate both bodies, the trio left Gupta’s body below the elevator shaft and drove away. They abandoned the vehicle near Jagatpuri flyover, boarded an auto and returned to their home. They had thought of disposing of Gupta’s body on Friday night, if their crime was not detected by then,” the officer added.
Gupta’s brother, Ashwani Goel, said Jain is their distant relative. “Jain had purchased a consignment from my brother and owed around ₹20 lakh. My brother had gone to demand the money when Jain and his employees killed him and Goel,” said Ashwani.
Gupta is survived by his wife and three children while Goel has left behind his wife and parents.
