Auto gang killed DFO, claim Ghaziabad police

Ghaziabad police have arrested three auto-rickshaw drivers for the murder of a former forest officer here recently.

Ajit Kumar Singh, a retired divisional forest officer, went missing from Mohan Nagar on July 5 and later his decomposed body was found dumped near the CISF camp on NH-24 in Indirapuram on July 10.

Police gave the names of the arrested drivers as Ahmed, Kuldeep and Ajay. A fourth driver involved in the crime, who police identified as Ravi, is still missing.

The dead forest officer's son, Prashant Rathore, however, said Ahmed had been changing his statements frequently.

“He first confessed to killing my father but changed his version later saying he had spoken under pressure,” Rathore said.

SSP Deepak Ratan, giving details, said Rajiv and Ahmed were driving an auto hired by Ajit Singh. On the way, they called another auto-driver, Kuldeep, to reach Sector-62, Noida, where Ajit Singh was to de-board and take another auto to Sector 12-22 crossing.

By the time Singh de-boarded the first auto, Kuldeep was already there and offered to drop him at Sector 12-22 crossing. The three then drove to an isolated place where they strangled him with a muffler. They took away his briefcase, a bag and Rs 8,000 but threw away his mobile phone. The body was dumped near the CISF camp on NH-24.

The two auto-rickshaws - UP14 AT 2299 and UP14 AE 9184 - have been seized.

Police also claimed to have seized a sweet box and a newspaper, published from Dehradun, which Singh was carrying from the house of these men.