Auto executive found dead after hitching a ride from strangers

A 27-year-old auto executive who hitched a ride from strangers near Gurgaon bus stand was found dead on Friday morning, in the forested area of Mahipalpur in Delhi

A 27-year-old auto executive who hitched a ride from strangers near Gurgaon bus stand was found dead on Friday morning, in the forested area of Mahipalpur in Delhi near the Delhi Gurgaon Expressway.

As per the Delhi Police, the body of the victim was found on Friday morning around 8am.

The deceased, identified as Sunil Kumar Bhatt, was on his way to Haridwar on Thursday to attend a family function when he took a lift from strangers in a car from Gurgaon bus stand.

The family members of the victim told police that the occupants of the car offered him the lift saying they were also headed for the same destination.

Some cash had also been withdrawn from his debit cards at multiple ATMs on Thursday night, and a transaction at a supermarket was made the next day, the family told the police.

As per the Delhi Police, the body of the victim was found on Friday morning around 8am and a message in this regard was broadcasted on police network and on the social media.

It was through one such WhatsApp group that information about the victim reached his family members.

Meanwhile, Gurgaon police on Saturday said that a case of murder has been registered at Delhi cant police station and the investigation is likely to be conducted jointly by them.

Bhatt, who had got married last year, has a four-month old daughter.

He was working as an engineer in a Manesar-based auto company, Denso India.

A native of Vella village in Champawat district of Uttarakhand, he was living as a tenant in Gandhi Nagar locality. Neeraj Bhatt, who is the victim’s brother-in-law, said Bhatt had left the bus stand around 7.30pm in the car and he even sent an SMS to his wife in which the car’s registration number was mentioned.

“He spoke with my sister at 8.30pm and asked about their daughter but the call was abruptly disconnected. After that, there was no communication with him and this had us worried,” he added.

Unable to connect with her husband throughout the night, the victim’s wife went to the bus stand police post around 7am on Friday morning but she was asked to come again at 9pm, when the complaint was accepted. Meanwhile, the Delhi Police had found the body of Bhatt dumped in the forested area of Mahipalpur near the expressway.

“It was through the social media that the news of his death came to us around 8am on Saturday morning. We called the Delhi police and they asked us to come to Safdarjung hospital. A postmortem was conducted there and we cremated the body today evening at Ram Bagh in Gurgaon,” said Neeraj Bhatt.

On Thursday, the family members also went to the bank and found that cash had been withdrawn from PNB ATM at Mahipalpur and other ATMs at Shalimar Bagh, Kingsway camp and Majnu Ka Tila in Delhi.

A transaction of ₹798 was also carried out at supermarket on Friday but the location could not be found.

Bhartender Kumar, SHO, Sector 14, police station, where the missing person report was registered said that autopsy was conducted in Delhi, and body was handed over to the victims.

“The car number which the family members have provided is not correct. We are probing all the angles in the matter,” he added.

Sumit Kuhar, DCP, crime said that they have not received the case file as the murder case has been registered in Delhi cant police station. “The case is being probed jointly and the accused will be nabbed soon,” he said