Abducted engineer killed, friend held

The body of a 23-year-old civil engineer was found in a decomposed state in a godown in West Delhi on Friday morning. Police said Johny Gupta was kidnapped on April 3 and murdered, allegedly by a college mate and his associates. Police said the trio demanded a ransom of Rs 1 crore from Gupta’s parents but had murdered him even before the payment was made.
Police said three youths, identified as Anoop — the alleged mastermind of the kidnapping— and his associates Anil (26) and Avinash (36), have been arrested. Police said Anoop and Johny had known each other from the time they were together in an an engineering college. While Avinash is an post-graduate in Accounts and Law, Anil is a tempo driver, police said.
According to police, the kidnapping was planned by the three men to make some quick money. They had heard that Johnny’s family had recently sold land for a huge amount and this prompted them to hatch a plan. Police said the three men had decided to murder Johny, irrespective of whether the ransom was paid or not. “They had strangled Johny and dumped his body in a pit which was dug in the godown almost a week ago,” an investigating officer said.
Police said Johny was kidnapped on the evening of April 3 while he was on his way to his Paschim Vihar house after finishing work at his Model Town office. “Anoop called Johny and asked him to meet him at Punjabi Bagh. Anoop and Johny went on separate motorcycles till Peeragarhi. From there, Johny rode pillion on Anoop’s motorcycle to the godown in Kamruddin Nagar in West Delhi. Anoop left Johny with his two associates in the godown and went away,” said Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northwest) Romil Baaniya.

“After a while, Johny sensed trouble and told the two men that he was going home. The duo did not let him go and this led to a scuffle. The fight worsened and the two strangled Johny with an electric wire. They took out his wallet and mobile phone and dumped the body in the ditch. They also sprinkled 10 kg salt on the body before covering it with soil,” Baaniya said.
Meanwhile, Johny’s family had informed police that he had been missing. While police were with the family, Johny’s father received the ransom call for Rs 1 crore around midnight.
The police traced the ransom call and located the area from where it was made. They found out that Johny, before he had gone missing, had spoken to Anoop. “Anoop was questioned. First, he tried to mislead us by making conflicting statements. But then he confessed to the crime,” Baaniya said.
“Anoop had planned to call Johny’s father and ask him to board the Gomti Express from Delhi to Lucknow with the ransom money. He wanted to collect it enroute. But before they could make the call, they were arrested,” Baaniya said.
Based on the information provided by the trio, the body was recovered.