DNA test helps nail killer after 8 years

New Delhi: Suspecting illicit relationship with his wife, a man Pramod Kumar murdered a 22-year-old young boy of Deoria, UP who came to work in Delhi's Tughlaqabad as a supervisor in the accused firm. However, the young boy Ashutosh was last seen with Promod in his car. The boy went missing since then. Police in 2011 picked up Promod but since the body of the victim was not found he was granted bail and the charges did not prove.

A massive manhunt was launched by Crime Branch, however, no clue could be found. S K Gulia, ACP, Anti Human Trafficking Unit, Crime Branch initiated an exercise of checking the details of Un-Identified Dead Bodies (UIDB) found in Delhi and adjoining states. During investigation, several suspected dead bodies were narrowed down. However, all efforts failed to generate any fresh light in the investigation of this case. A cash reward of Rs 50,000 was declared by Delhi police headquarters for any information leading to the whereabouts of Ashutosh in this case.

Eight years after the incident, luck struck and the body was traced to Muradnagar, UP. The postmortem revealed that Ashutosh had died due to asphyxia as a result of ante-mortem throttling. The kidnapping and murder were committed in the year 2011. The DNA test confirmed the identity of the deceased on February 11.

"Ashutosh was a young 22-year-old man. He was doing an MBA. He arrived in Delhi from Deoria, Uttar Pradesh in 2008. He began working for Pramod in Pramod Logistics Services, 216-B, 2nd floor, Concord Building, Tughlakabad, New Delhi as a supervisor," said Rajiv Ranjan, Additional CP, Crime.

"It has been alleged that Pramod began suspecting Ashutosh of having illicit relations with his wife. On a fateful day, Pramod took Ashutosh along in his car. Thereafter, no one ever saw or heard of Ashutosh anymore. The Muradnagar Police found the dead body and registered a case of murder," Ranjan added.