Ghaziabad The Ghaziabad police on Thursday arrested two suspects and also recovered the body of a 25-year-old man allegedly abducted from Loni in a car and later shot dead by a group of suspects before the body was thrown into the Hindon River in Baghpat district on late night of June 7.
The deceased, Ankur Kumar, a resident of Ganoli in Loni, went missing on June 7 and his family lodged a missing person complaint at Loni police station, police said. On June 13, they formally registered an FIR for abduction against Aman Kumar, Shanky, Sonu Kumar, and unidentified accomplices, officers said .
Police said that they picked up one Saurabh Kumar, 25, from Loni for questioning late Tuesday night, who provided vital clues on the incident.
“Based on information from Saurabh, police arrested prime suspect Shanky, 28, the mastermind. Shanky planned Ankur’s kidnapping and murder as he was in a relationship with his sister, and her family had fixed her engagement. Shanky was arrested near Khadkhadi, Loni. Our teams also recovered Ankur’s body from near Raj Nagar Extension, about 15kms downstream from where the suspects dumped it from a bridge at Garhi Kalanjari in Baghpat district,” said ACP (Loni Circle) Siddharth Gautam.
The case now has three suspects, including Shanky, Saurabh Kumar, and Sonu, whose Maruti-Swift car was used to abduct Ankur, the ACP added.
“On June 7 night, Ankur had dinner at a Dhaba with his friend Aman and later they parted ways to their homes. So, Aman had no role in the case. In between, the three suspects arrived in a Swift car and kidnapped Ankur. The suspects said that they shot him five times and threw the weapon near Jawli, Loni. They also said that they burnt his scooter and dumped it in bushes. Later, Sonu, a resident of Baghpat, drove to a bridge over the Hindon in Baghpat, and all three dumped Ankur’s body in the river,” the ACP added.
Saurabh was formally arrested on Thursday, and Shanky was also held following a police crackdown at Khadkhadi, Loni, on Thursday. Sonu is absconding with the car used in the crime, and several teams are trying to trace him, police said.
Officials said that they will add sections for murder, destruction of evidence, and other relevant sections in the FIR lodged by the family of the deceased.