New Delhi, Sep 7 (PTI) A 24-year-old man, who allegedly strangled his neighbour to death in a revenge attack after the neighbour locked him and his girlfriend inside a rented room and had them assaulted, was arrested, police said on Monday.
The police arrested the accused, identified as Bhupender Pal alias Nanhe, in Uttar Pradesh’s Kasganj.
During interrogation, he told police that the incident enraged him and he planned to take revenge. “On the night of August 26, he went to Pawan Kumar Yadav’s room and offered him alcohol. After Yadav was heavily intoxicated, Pal allegedly strangled him,” police said.
They said he then allegedly packed the body in plastic sacks, transported it in his loading tempo and dumped it in the Dwarka Sector 8 drain in the early
hours of August 27 before fleeing to Kasganj.
Police cracked the murder case through extensive CCTV analysis, local enquiry and scrutiny of the deceased’s bank transactions.
The highly decomposed body of Yadav (45), a native of Purnia in Bihar, was recovered from a drain near Shukra Bazar Road in Sector 8 in Dwarka, on August 31. A senior police officer said the body was packed in plastic sacks and tied with rope.
The Dwarka South police station registered a case, and a team began the investigation.
“Police analysed CCTV footage from the area where Yadav was last seen. He was identified through a distinctive mark on his T-shirt and subsequent local enquiries,” a senior police officer said.
Yadav had lived in Bagdola village for around 10 years. He worked as a helper at a BSES office in Sector 8, at a momos shop in the evening and served as caretaker of a building with several tenants.
“The breakthrough came when investigators spotted a loading tempo carrying plastic sacks leaving the locality during the night of August 27. The vehicle was traced towards the spot where the body was later recovered and was seen returning to the area about 25 minutes later,” the officer said.
Police identified the tempo owner, Pal, as a suspect.
His movements, as reflected in call detail records, supported the police’s findings.
Scrutiny of Yadav’s bank account further showed small transactions for clothes purchased from Manglapuri on the evening of August 26. CCTV footage from the market showed Pal’s presence there, police said. A police team raided his premises in Kasganj on September 5 and apprehended him.
“During interrogation, Pal disclosed that days before the murder, Yadav had locked him and his girlfriend inside their rented room and gathered people who assaulted the couple. Holding a grudge over the incident, Pal decided to take revenge,” the officer said.
Police said they recovered the tempo used to transport the body, clothes worn during the crime and clothes purchased using the deceased’s bank account.
Police said Pal, who worked as a fruit seller in Sector 8 for around eight years, was also previously involved in a kidnapping-cum-murder case in Uttar Pradesh. Police said further investigation is underway. PTI BM ASD ASD
