Greater Noida’s Gaur City resident robbed, shot dead after being held hostage

Forty-year-old regional manager of a Gurugram-based private firm was shot dead after being allegedly robbed of his SUV and other valuables by unidentified persons

Forty-year-old regional manager of a Gurugram-based private firm was shot dead after being allegedly robbed of his SUV and other valuables by unidentified persons early Tuesday morning. His body was found around 4.15am on the service road, near the NCR Cricket Stadium between Parthla roundabout and Hindon bridge, under the jurisdiction of the Noida Phase 3 police.

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The deceased was identified as Gaurav Chandel, a resident of Greater Noida West. He was on his way home from work in Gurugram when he was suspectedly kidnapped. The police suspect Gaurav was driven around in his vehicle before being killed as a search party of his friends, accompanied by cops, had launched a manhunt based on his cellphone’s location— Roza Jalalpur village, Haibatpur village and Gaur city stadium.

The victim had purchased a Kia Seltos SUV in December. His SUV, laptop, two phones and wallet were missing, hinting that it may be a case of a robbery gone wrong. The police, however, said that though the family has not mentioned any rivalry, they were investigating all angles. Gaurav’s family said that only his wrist watch and a cigarette box were recovered from the spot.

Superintendent of police (city) Ankur Aggarwal said the bullet injury doesn’t fall in the normal pattern of armed robberies in the city. “We are investigating all angles. So far, family members have not mentioned any personal rivalries or suspicious financial dealings. But we will question then again,” Aggarwal said, adding that the police have looked at the deceased’s bank statement, which was surprisingly low for a family man of his stature.

Gaurav worked as a regional manager for a Gurugram-based private firm that sold surgical healthcare goods.

According to his wife, Preeti Chandel, she last spoke with Gaurav at 10.22pm when he had told her that was near the Parthla roundabout, about 5.5km away from their house in Gaur City, fifth avenue. “When he didn’t reach home even after 45 minutes, I called him multiple times but the calls remained unanswered. Worried that he may have been harmed in some way, I started calling the neighbours to help look for him,” Preeti said.

According to the family, nearly 12-15 residents of Gaur City got together around 11.15pm and started looking for him. “We reached the Garhi Chaukhandi police post and explained the situation to the police. They traced Gaurav’s cellphone location to Roza Jalalpur village. Police personnel accompanied us as we looked in the area,” family friend Sanjay Kishor said.

Kishor said that later, Gaurav’s location was traced to Haibatpur village where too a search yielded no result. But as the jurisdiction changed, Noida police dropped them off at the Cherry County police post in Greater Noida West.

“A third location, around 1am, detected him near the Gaur City Stadium where once again we could not find him. The police personnel then suggested we go to Bisrakh police station and file a missing persons report. We wasted more than two hours at the Bisrakh police station. We were told that we would only get the record of call details and live tracking by 10am,” another family friend Atul Lohia said.

The family neighbours once again started canvassing the area on their own. They said all calls to him were going unanswered. Around 4.15am, some neighbours spotted his body near the NCR Cricket Stadium.

“He was lying face down and his head bore multiple injury marks. We immediately called an ambulance and alerted the police. His wife also reached the spot almost immediately. He was taken to Yatharth hospital where he was declared brought dead,” Kishor said.

Based on the family’s complaint, a case was registered at the Phase 3 police station against unidentified persons under IPC sections 302 (murder), 201 (disappearance of evidence of offence) and 394 (robbery).

“Prime facie it doesn’t seem to be a robbery gone wrong, but seems that the intention was to kill all along. We have some vital leads and are working on them,” senior superintendent of police Vaibhav Krishna said, adding that he has met the family and due legal action will be taken soon.

The family also filed a complaint against the Bisrakh police for lack of proactive action. The SSP is also investigating whether the Bisrakh police was lackadaisical in its approach towards the case.

“The autopsy report showed he was shot in the back of his head. In addition, his head, face and forehead bore marks of injury probably inflicted with an iron rod,” the SSP said.

The police also found blood splattered at the spot, indicating that he was brought killed where he was found. The police, however, said they would only be able to say anything conclusively after they get the forensic and detailed autopsy reports.

Gaurav is survived by his wife, 10-year-old son and mother. They family hails from Kanpur and has been living in Greater Noida West for past four years.