Noida: Two arrested for July 11 murder of gym trainer

One of the men arrested is related to the victim and owned a disputed piece of land in their village of Salarpur in Noida over which he had incurred financial losses

Two men allegedly involved in the murder of a gym trainer in Salarpur village on July 11 were arrested by the police in Noida on Saturday.

Police arrested Pradeep Bhati and Amir (second and third from left) for the murder of Pradeep’s cousin Sajan Bhati in Salarpur village. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

The two have been identified as Pradeep Bhati, 30, and his alleged accomplice Amir, 27. Police said Pradeep had made the plan to eliminate his cousin, Sajan Bhati, and taken the help of six men to execute it.

On July 11, Sajan, had returned home from a gym in the neighbourhood when armed men in two cars opened indiscriminate fire at him. The men fled after the attack while the gym trainer received six bullets and died on the spot.

Police said Sajan’s father, Gajraj Bhati, filed a complaint, after which a case was registered and investigations started. The FIR was registered against Pradeep Bhati, Rishipal, Shripal, Papinder, Nitin, Rinku and Kalu and three unidentified men.

Superintendent of police (city), Arun Kumar Singh said, “Searches were conducted at the houses of those named in the FIR, but they were all absconding. After this, technical surveillance was mounted on them, which led to the arrest of Pradeep and Amir from Mahamaya Flyway on Saturday night.”

During questioning, Pradeep told the police that a disputed piece of gram sabha land occupied by Pradeep and Sajan’s family was behind the murder.

Police said Pradeep had constructed some shops on the land and rented them out, from which he earned ₹30,000 per month. However, when Pradeep started renovating the shops last month, Sajan forced him to stop, claiming his share, according to the police. They added that after that, Pradeep shifted to Greater Noida and started a business with someone identified as Malkhan.

Police said Pradeep told them he had invested ₹6 lakh in the business, but Sajan broke up the deal after taking Malkhan into confidence. Pradeep was upset over the financial losses and decided to eliminate Sajan, police added.

They said he asked Amir, from Aligarh, to keep an eye on Sajan. According to the police, on the night of July 11, Amir told Pradeep that Sajan had returned home from the gym. Pradeep and nine other men, armed with three countrymade pistols, reached the spot in a Swift Dzire and a Mahindra Scorpio and fired indiscriminately at Sajan, who was sitting outside his house, police said.

Pradeep works as a contractor and Amir was engaged as a non-technician staffer in a private hospital in Kakod.

Police said they recovered a 9mm pistol, .32 bore pistol, two live cartridges and Swift Dzire from their possession.