Resemblance to ‘target’ leads to Greater Noida man being killed by shooters

His resemblance to a man who was being targeted by suspected shooters cost Neeraj Kumar, a 38-year-old private contractor, his life. Neeraj was “accidentally” shot dead allegedly by two men on February 5 in Sector Gamma 2 in Greater Noida outside a sweets shop.

A contractor with the horticulture department in Jila Panchayat of Gautam Budh Nagar, Kumar looked like the intended target, the police said.

Two men were arrested in the early hours of Thursday in connection with the case.

“Anit Singh, the prime suspect in the case, had been serving time in prison for various crimes. He had been out on bail when Neeraj was killed, and on February 6, he surrendered in a different case. We found out more information about this case after Singh was taken on police remand,” senior superintendent of police of Gautam Budh Nagar, Vaibhav Krishna, said.

Based on information given by Anit and other informants, Sonu Yadav and Subodh Bhati were arrested around 4.30am from near the Nat Madhaiya village in Kasna.

Police said the suspects were targeting a person named Avdhesh, a contractor living in Greater Noida’s Paligaon village.

“It seems that Avdhesh’s son and Subodh’s younger brother are classmates and had an argument in school. The argument between the boys escalated, with Avdhesh threatening Subodh. This prompted Subodh to exact ‘revenge’,” the SSP said.

“Subodh and two of his accomplices then hatched a plan to kill Avdhesh. On the night of February 5, the three came to sector Gamma 2 where Avdhesh was present. Neeraj was also in the area with two of his friends. Subodh stayed in the car while the other two got out. Neeraj looked a lot like Avdhesh and was accidentally shot by Anit, who mistook him for Avdhesh,” the senior officer added.

He said the two shooters are members of notorious gangster Anil Dujana’s gang and have multiple cases against them.

Anit, police said, has nearly 15 cases of grave crimes against him at police stations all over the district and was arrested nearly two years ago following a police encounter.

The suspects have known each other for a while, having committed crimes together earlier as well, the police said.

To kill Avdhesh, the suspects had come in a Duster SUV, which they had allegedly stolen on the night of February 3 from near a mall in Kasna.

“The robbery had involved these three and another man, Ankit Chaudhary, who is on the run. He is also a sharp shooter for the Dujana gang and efforts are on to nab him,” the senior officer said.

Police have recovered the SUV used in the crime as well as another vehicle, two countrymade pistols and one stolen number plate from the suspects.

Police said two teams were working on this case, and their maximum leads came from footage from the CCTV cameras recovered from near the crime scene where the shooting had taken place.

The suspects were produced before a magistrate and sent to jail.