Two held for killing mentally challenged man in Ghaziabad

The police said that the victim was beaten on suspicion of being a thief and prime accused Saurabh Kumar, a physically challenged man, had used his lathi (stick) to severely beat up the victim. He had died on the spot

The police on Wednesday arrested two men, including a physically challenged person, for allegedly murdering a 22-year-old mentally challenged man in Murad Nagar on May 5.

Police said the two men were on their way home on their motorcycle around 2am when they saw Sachin on the road and started beating him up with his stick. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The police said that the victim was beaten on suspicion of being a thief and prime accused Saurabh Kumar, a physically challenged man, had used his lathi (stick) to severely beat up the victim. He had died on the spot.

The accused was identified as Vipin Tyagi, Saurabh’s friend.

The police on the morning of May 5 had recovered the body of 22-year-old Sachin Kumar. During the initial investigation, the police found that a button of his shirt was broken and it seemed that he had been in a scuffle with someone. After the post-mortem reports indicated that Sachin had sustained 10-12 external injuries as well as internal ones, the police confirmed that the man had been murdered.

“The post-mortem report revealed that Kumar had been hit severely in his abdomen which caused his liver to rupture. The blood from the injuries collected in his intestines and he died on the spot. During the investigation, we got clues from some neighbours. Saurabh had told his mother that he had beaten a thief around 2am on May 5. His mother revealed this to another woman in the locality. This information reached us and when we questioned Saurabh and Vipin, they broke down and confessed to the crime,” Ravir Singh, station house officer, Murad Nagar, said.

According to the police, the two men were under the influence of alcohol and were returning home on their motorcycle around 2am when they saw Sachin on the road.

“They started beating him up with the stick used by Saurabh, who is physically challenged. He hit the victim in his abdomen repeatedly. Once he fell, they fled the spot,” Singh said.

After their arrest, the police have negated their claims that they beat up Sachin on suspicion of him being a thief.

“It has come to light that the two accused often teased Sachin over his mental condition. Both have been arrested for murder and the ‘lathi’ used for committing the crime has been recovered. We have also recovered the motorcycle, which was used by the two accused during the crime,” Vaibhav Krishna, senior superintendent of police, Ghaziabad, said.