Auto driver held for murder, dismembering body

The police on Monday night arrested a 40-year-old autorickshaw driver from Bajghera for allegedly murdering a dhaba owner on October 15 and dismembering his body

The police on Monday night arrested a 40-year-old autorickshaw driver from Bajghera for allegedly murdering a dhaba owner on October 15 and dismembering his body before disposing of it.

HT Image

The police said the suspect, Naresh Kumar, suspected the dhaba owner, identified as Sandeep Kumar, of having a relationship with his wife. Naresh invited Sandeep to his room for drinks and dinner, allegedly killed him with a sharp object and disposed of his body in two polybags at a construction site in Sector 5.

The police control room received a call about the foul smell from a local, who then found a hand hanging out of one of the bags. Despite finding the body on October 15, the police were only able to establish the victim’s identity four days later.

Rajender Kumar, station house officer, Sector 5 police station, said, “Samples were taken, pictures were clicked and sent to nearest police stations. Also, all missing reports were checked to identify the deceased.”

Kumar said they had found two words — Sandeep and Om written in Hindi — tattooed to his right hand, which helped them establish his identity.

A case under sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) of the Indian Penal Code was registered at the Sector 5 police station.

The victim used to run a roadside eatery at Bajghera Chowk. His body was identified by his family members and handed over to them after a post-mortem examination.

Preet Pal Sangwan, the assistant commissioner of police (crime), said the murder came to light when a transporter’s employees spotted two polybags lying at the room of the construction site and raised the alarm.

A few locals reached there and opened the bags. The locals panicked after seeing a body and one of them called the police control room.

A police team arrived and cordoned off the site immediately. Officials said that no bloodstains were found around the spot where the bags were dumped. “It means that the man was murdered elsewhere. However, the murder weapon was recovered from the spot,” said Sangwan.

The police said that Naresh a resident of Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh and has been living at a rented accommodation in Sector 5 area for the last five years.

The police zeroed in on the suspect after identifying his autorickshaw in two separate CCTV footages. When questioned, he confessed to his role in the incident, the police said.

The police said the suspect lived with his three children and his wife. Suspecting his wife and Sandeep of having a relationship, he is alleged to have murdered the victim around 1am on October 15. He washed his room when he returned after dumping the body.

Kumar said that the family members did not suspect anything as they slept on the other side of the building. The victim was first drugged and then murdered, the police said.