26-year-old kills his neighbour to avenge father’s insult, held

Police said the prime accused Sandeep Jatav murdered Praveen Kumar on the intervening night of June 17-18 as the Praveen’s father had allegedly publicly insulted Jatav’s father two years ago.

The Ghaziabad police on Tuesday nabbed a 26-year-old man and his accomplice in connection with a murder of 21-year-old man whose body was found in the jungles of Murad Nagar on June 18.

Prime accused Sandeep Jatav (right) and his accomplice Shobhit in police custody on Tuesday. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

Police said the prime accused Sandeep Jatav murdered Praveen Kumar on the intervening night of June 17-18 as the Praveen’s father had allegedly publicly insulted Jatav’s father two years ago.

Sandeep’s accomplice was indentified as Shobhit.

“Praveen was rebuked by his father on the night of the incident after he stole Rs 500 from his sister’s purse. As a result, he left home and met Sandeep and Shobhit who were drinking together. Sandeep held a grudge against Praveen as Praveen’s father had insulted his father in the past. Praveen told Sandeep that he was going away from home,” said AK Maurya, superintendent of police (rural).

Soon, Sandeep and Shobhit took Praveen on their bike to different places. Police said Sandeep was looking for a place to murder Praveen. They finally reached the jungles near Bhadoli.

“There, Sandeep pulled off his T-shirt and strangled Praveen. When Praveen tried to struggle, Shobhit held his hands and legs till he died. Thereafter, the two men escaped, after hiding the bike in the jungle. They threw the T-a kilometre away in the fields,” Maurya said.

After discovering Praveen’s body, police roped in local informers and found out that Sandeep’s father was involved in an altercation with Praveen’s father two years ago.

Police picked up Sandeep and Shobhit for questioning and the two allegedly broke down and narrated the incident on the night of the murder. The police also recovered the bike and the T-shirt at their instance. Both now stand charged with murder and destruction of evidence, police said.

“It was a fight between two families but my father intervened to sort out the issue. He was beaten up by Praveen’s family and he suffered a major injury on his head. Finally, my father had to apologise publicly for intervening in the altercation and this had upset him. Since that day, I wanted to avenge my father’s insult. The night I saw Praveen, I recalled the incident and decided to get my revenge,” Sandeep said.

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