Delhi man killed, dismembered body dumped in Yamuna; four held

Delhi: In a gruesome incident driven by greed, a man was killed, his body chopped into pieces and dumped in the Yamuna by his friend and his associates after he refused to give them money, according to police.

Four people, including a woman, have been arrested in connection with the killing that took place on February 18.

According to police, the main accused, Happy alias Suraj (29), had befriended Anroop Gupta (48), who ran a canteen at Chhattisgarh Sadan here, nearly a year ago. He noticed the gold ornaments that Gupta frequently wore and also learned that he was living separately from his family.

On February 18, Happy invited Gupta for a party at his rented accommodation in Matiala Extension. There, Happy, along with his associates, tied Gupta with ropes and beat him with sticks, demanding money, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) Ankit Singh said.

Gupta told them that his gold rings and bracelet were in his SUV parked at Chhattisgarh Sadan.

The accused forcibly took the car keys, brought the vehicle to Matiala and retrieved the gold ornaments. However, when Gupta refused to give them money, they beat him up and stabbed him to death.

“In a shocking act of brutality, Happy procured a big knife (machete) and cut the body into pieces. The body parts were packed in three plastic bags. Transported the bags by using Gupta’s SUV and disposed of them in the Yamuna River near Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh,” DCP Ankit Singh said in the statement.

In a bid to mislead investigators, they kept Gupta’s mobile phone inside the car and did not switch it off. They also sent messages from the victim’s phone to staff at the Chhattisgarh Sadan canteen asking them to close the canteen and go home.

Another message was sent to Gupta’s family stating that he was going on a vacation to Goa and should not be disturbed.

The matter came to light when Gupta’s family reported him missing at Delhi Police’s Dwarka North police station on February 23 after they failed to contact him, and his SUV also went untraceable.

“After the missing report, a dedicated team was formed under the supervision of senior officers to trace the missing man. The team cracked the blind murder case with the help of technical and manual intelligence in a proactive manner,” the DCP said.

“Based on the evidence, a case was registered at Bindapur police station. The details were also shared with the police in Uttar Pradesh. Following coordinated efforts with police in Mathura district, the mutilated body parts were recovered from the Yamuna river,” the officer said.

During the investigation, police said that they checked CCTV footage for three days at toll plazas and the place of the incident to trace the victim’s movement.

They found that Gupta had booked a bike ride on February 18 and left his SUV parked at Chhattisgarh Sadan before heading to Matiala Extension. CCTV footage showed him entering a building there.

“He was never seen coming out. Four other persons were later seen entering the same building,” DCP Singh said.

Call detail record analysis led police to the bike ride driver who had dropped Gupta at the location. Further scrutiny of CCTV footage revealed suspicious movement of the victim’s car, which was later seen entering and exiting the basement of the building before heading towards the Yamuna Expressway on the intervening night of February 19 and 20.

The DCP said, “NHAI toll data confirmed that the SUV travelled towards Vrindavan and returned to Noida within a few hours. The key conspirator, Happy alias Suraj (29), a resident of Hansi in Haryana, was identified from CCTV footage and traced.”

During interrogation, he confessed to hatching the conspiracy, along with his associates — Bhupender, Balram, Neeraj and his live-in partner Rakhi, the officer said.

Bhupender, Balram and Rakhi have also been arrested, while Neeraj remains absconding. Efforts are being made to trace and arrest him, the officer added.