Man, two cousins held for murdering borrower

New Delhi

A 48-year-old man and his two cousins were arrested for allegedly murdering a 38-year-old man for not returning ₹2.5 lakh he had borrowed from the suspect a few months ago, police said on Monday. The murder took place in a parking lot near the Old Delhi Railway Station in the wee hours of Friday, they said.

Police said the trio invited the victim, Gaurav Thakur, to the parking lot, drank liquor with him and shot him in the neck with two countrymade guns they procured for the purpose.

The prime accused was identified as Chandarpal Bhati, and the others as Vinay Bhati,24, and Ombir Singh Bhati,36. Chanderpal and Vinay reside in Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, and Ombir in Bulandshahr, all in Uttar Pradesh. Chandarpal roped in Ombir for the crime and the latter shot Thakur in the neck, deputy commissioner of police (north) Manoj Kumar Meena said.

DCP Meena said that on Friday, a caller to the Kotwali police station informed that his relative was shot at the Dangal Maidan parking lot, following which a police team found the victim bleeding on a cot. They rushed him to a hospital in the vicinity, but he was declared dead on admission.

A case of murder and firing was registered under Section 103 (1)/3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and sections 25/27 of the Arms Act.

Since it was a blind murder case, police and district special staff checked footage from 35 CCTV cameras and through informers, ascertained that Thakur was last seen with Chandarpal and his cousins on Thursday night.

“The three became suspects in the case and were arrested from Delhi’s Seemapuri and Shahibabad in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday. Their interrogation led to the recovery of the firearms and a car that were used in the crime,” Meena said.

An investigator, not wanting to be named, said: “When Chandarpal felt he wouldn’t get his money back, he hatched Thakur’s murder plan and roped in his two cousins.”