Ghaziabad schoolboy held for killing friend for not returning Rs 2,200

GHAZIABAD: An 18-year-old schoolboy was arrested on Sunday along with two other accomplices for allegedly killing a friend after being exasperated over the latter’s inordinate delay in repaying a debt of Rs 2,200.
The accused, who has been identified as Jogi, is a student of Class X in Shambhu Dayal Inter College in Naya Ganj area of Ghaziabad.

Jogi and his two accomplices, Mohit and Deepak, who are also aged around 18 years, live in Ganeshpuri area under Sahibabad police station area.

On the morning of April 13, the police had found a body lying in a park near a water tank in Sahibabad. It was identified the same day as that of Rohit (19), who also lived in Sahibabad.

“Investigations have revealed that Jogi had murdered Rohit for not returning a sum of Rs 2,200. The latter had taken this money from Jogi during the Kanwar festival last year but had been delaying its return under one pretext or the other,” said circle officer, Sahibabad, DSP Rakesh Mishra.

Police said Mohit and Deepak had dropped out of studies. While Mohit used to ply a battery-operated rickshaw, Deepak had a street-food stall in Sahibabad. Rohit used to work with his brother in a switch-manufacturing firm in Site 4 Industrial Area of Sahibabad.

Jogi told media persons on Sunday that he first hit Rohit on his head with a brick. He had then taken off his own T-shirt and strangled Rohit’s neck. The four men had met at the park at around 9pm on April 12.

“Mohit, Deepak and Rohit had got a few bottles of alcohol from Delhi. They asked me to join them for drinks. We went around for some time looking for a desolate place for drinks. Then we decided to go to the water tank,” said Jogi.

The three accused men, however, said Jogi had attacked Rohit in self-defence when he became aggressive. The three men said they had consumed a beer each on the fateful evening and topped it up with a quarter bottle of hard liquor.

“We were all very inebriated. Rohit became aggressive and began to abuse me in foul language when I pestered with him to return my money which I needed urgently. When I retorted to his abuses, he went down the tank and returned with a brick to attack me. Sensing danger, I snatched the brick from him and hit it on his head. Then I took off my T-shirt and strangulated him with it till he died,” said Jogi.

“The next day I went to my school and attended classes as usual feigning as if nothing of this sort ever occurred,” he added.

Police said that the three accused were nabbed on the basis of forensic evidence and after questioning locals who claimed to have seen the four boys together for the last time on the evening of April 12.

An FIR under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC was lodged on April 13 on the basis of a complaint filed by the deceased’s father Rakesh Kumar.