Ghaziabad: A week after a dairy owner was shot at and forced into a car near an underpass in Loni by a group of five youths, police have arrested one of the main accused, a 21-year-old youth called Mohit Pandit.
Pandit said Omkar died during the kidnapping and they dumped his body near a canal in
Baghpat. His body has not been recovered yet.
DCP (rural) Surendra Nath Tiwari said more than 20 teams, including SDRF, are looking for the body near Masuri, Muradnagar, and Modinagar areas. “Soon, we will convert the attempt to murder charge against the five to a murder charge,” he added.
The remaining four are still on the run. Police have announced a reward of Rs. 50,000 for information on each of them.
Pandit belongs to Ganauli, the same village as the victim.
During interrogation, the accused confirmed they conspired to kill the victim because of a road rage incident between his friend Saurav, one of the accused, and Omkar’s son.
“Mohit stated that on May 20, Omkar’s son Devansh and Saurabh had a heated argument after their car hit Devansh. Devansh was travelling in his Hyundai Santro car and the accused were in a white Swift car. Later, Omkar’s son filed a complaint at the Loni police station. Then, the matter reached the panchayat but no understanding was made,” the DCP said.
While the panchayat was trying to mediate between them, Omkar had insulted and assaulted Saurabh and Saurabh’s father Vijender, Mohit said to police. Following this, the friends planned to kill Omkar. The group bought a pistol and accosted Omkar when he was going to buy fodder on the morning of May 31.
“They then went to Baghpat, bypassing the Hindon river, reached the Pithkhas bridge, went deeper into the jungle along the canal bank and dumped his body there,” Tiwari said.
The victim’s family staged a protest, accusing police of moving too slowly in the investigation
On Thursday, the victim’s family had staged a protest and blocked the Chirori-Banthla road, accusing police of being too lax. Before Pandit’s arrest, the family did not know whether Omkar was alive or dead.Omkar’s brother Surendra said the May 31 attack was not the first time his family was attacked over the road rage dispute. “On May 20 too, the accused had followed my brother’s son and attacked him. An FIR was registered at Loni police station,” he added.However, the SHO questioned them and let them go, he said. The DCP had later suspended the SHO of the Loni police station over this matter. A departmental inquiry was also ordered against the station in-charge.Later, 17 relatives of the accused were arrested till Tuesday for sheltering them.
