Murdered youth’s body crops up in heart of Doon, questions raised over night patrol efficacy

The site where the body was found is very close to the Clock Tower, and to a prominent city police outpost. The Uttarakhand secretariat and the police headquarters are also not very far away from the location.

A body of a murdered man cropping up in the state capital, and that too in the very heart of the city, has raised doubts about the regular night patrolling and checking of vehicles by policemen in Dehradun.

Police personnel check the CCTV footage in connection with the body of a youth that was found in the heart of Dehradun on Monday. (Vinay santosh Kumar/HT Photo)

The alertness of the police officials has come under scanner after the body of Yatin Verma (27), an engineer who hailed from Bagehshwar district of Uttarakhand and worked in Noida (Uttar Pradesh), was found near a local cinema hall Monday.

Located on the bustling Rajpur Road, the site where the body was found is very close to the Clock Tower, and also ironically, to a prominent city police outpost. The state’s secretariat and the police headquarters are also not very far away from the location.

While the preliminary investigation by the police suggests that the youth may have been murdered elsewhere and the body thrown at the site later on, questions are being raised about how the criminal could dump the body right in the heart of the city, without coming under the lens of policemen, amid claims of stringent night patrolling and checking of vehicles.

On being queried about doubts being raised on the efficiency of night patrolling and checking of vehicles by the cops, Kumar told HT, “I have ordered an investigation and if any laxity is found on the part of the police, due action will be taken against those found responsible.”

It is the second time in a week that the police officials have been caught off guard. Just last week, it was discovered that three shooters – who had rained bullets on under trial gangster Devpal Rana at a Roorkee court premises on November 20 resulting in his death – had been living in Dehradun in a rented flat in a posh area of the city for the past few weeks. Ironically, the apartment where they lived is situated just next to the Police Line in Dehradun, raising questions on the verification drive of tenants conducted by the local police. One of the three shooters was arrested from the apartment. Following the discovery, the Dehradun police initiated verification drives for posh areas and apartments.

Family members of the deceased arrived in Dehradun on Tuesday and took away the body after postmortem.