New Delhi: The Delhi Police has arrested in Jhajjar a 27-year-old man wanted for the kidnapping and murder of a canteen operator after his extortion demands were not met, an officer said on Wednesday.
The accused, Neeraj, a resident of Dhandhlan village in Haryana’s Jhajjar, and his associates allegedly chopped Anurup Gupta’s body with a chopper and dumped it in the Yamuna River, the officer said.
He was apprehended after a tip-off about his presence in his native village, they said.
Neeraj was booked at Bindapur Police Station in Dwarka district on February 28 on charges of kidnapping, murder and criminal conspiracy.
“A Special Cell team had been tracking the accused. On March 31, the team received information that Neeraj had come to his village to meet an associate. The team conducted a raid and apprehended him,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Narra Chaitanya said.
The officer said during interrogation, Neeraj disclosed chilling details of the crime.
He told investigators that he, along with his associates Bhupender, Suraj alias Happy, Balram and a woman named Rakhi, had conspired to abduct Anurup Gupta, who ran a canteen at Chhattisgarh
House, Dwarka.
“As per the plan, Rakhi lured Gupta to a flat in the Matiala area. When he arrived at the location, the accused allegedly overpowered him, tied him with ropes and robbed him of his jewellery.
“Gupta was then held hostage and pressured to arrange money. When their demands were not met, the accused killed him,” the officer said.
Neeraj revealed that after killing Gupta, the accused chopped his body to conceal evidence. The body parts were then packed in bags and transported out of Delhi.
“The accused subsequently disposed of the remains in the Yamuna River near Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh,” the officer said. Neeraj told police that he dropped out after class 12 and was working in a factory near his village before he came in contact with Balram.
Through him, he met Suraj, who dealt in cars in the Dwarka area, and gradually got drawn into criminal activities.
Police records show that Neeraj was earlier arrested in November 2023 under preventive sections at Sampla Police Station in Rohtak, Haryana.
Efforts are underway
to apprehend the remaining absconders.