NOIDA: A 26-year-old unemployed man allegedly murdered his friend, to whom he owed Rs 5.5 lakh, by repeatedly hitting him on the head with an iron wrench after a failed attempt to drown him in the Ganga canal at Chhota Haridwar in Ghaziabad.
Saurabh, who was arrested on Friday, has told police he killed Nagendra Chauhan on June 23 because he abused him repeatedly and also made obscene comments about his younger sister. Saurabh had borrowed Rs 5.5 lakh from Nagendra, who owned an electrical shop in Noida’s Sector 48, over the past five years and hadn’t repaid a single penny.
Saurabh’s plan to drown Nagendra coincided with allegations from Chhota Haridwar that a gang of robbers has been pulling down devotees taking a dip and tying stones to their legs to steal jewellery, which even led to the Loni MLA writing to the UP government and an investigation being ordered by the Ghaziabad district magistrate.
Police suspect Saurabh was aware of the happenings at Chhota Haridwar and intended to use it as a decoy. On June 23, he persuaded Nagendra to accompany him and another friend, Bhanu, to the canal. On the way, the trio bought liquor and got heavily drunk. After reaching Chhota Haridwar in Nagendra’s
Swift, Saurabh allegedly asked him and Bhanu to wade into the water, saying he would take a picture of both and make a
Facebook live video.
According to police, Saurabh repeatedly asked Nagendra to go deep into the canal, thinking he would drown by himself as he did not know how to swim. Nagendra did and lost his balance but Saurabh’s plan went awry as Nagendra began screaming and others rushed to his help. Nagendra was fished out but Bhanu got sucked into the currents and drowned.
“When his plan to get Nagendra drowned failed, he offered to take him to hospital in the Swift. The rescuers helped Nagendra into the car and Saurabh sped away. Nagendra had lost consciousness by then,” a police officer said.
Saurabh allegedly drove the car to a deserted location 10km away. “He drove along the Ganga canal until he reached Galand Barrage. There, he hit Nagendra on the head repeatedly with an iron wrench until he died. Then he threw the body into the canal,” the officer added.
Nagendra’s body was found a few hours later the same day. His parents said they had tried to lodge a complaint against Saurabh, whom they had seen accompanying their son, but the police were convinced Nagendra had drowned. “A case was eventually registered at Sector 24 police station on June 27, after we sought the intervention of SSP Ajay Pal Sharma. After two months of investigation, the police finally cracked the case and arrested Saurabh,” said
Chetan Chauhan, Nagendra’s brother-in-law.
Sources said the police started a
murder investigation after the autopsy report mentioned Nagendra had been hit with a blunt object in the head and he died because of those injuries. Saurabh, who had told almost everybody that both Nagendra and Bhanu had drowned in the Ganga canal, was picked up from the City Centre area on Friday. Police said he had confessed to the crime.
“Apart from the injuries, we also took into account that both the bodies (of Nagendra and Bhanu) were found 10km apart. Saurabh has been charged with murder, among other sections,” said Pankaj Pant, the SHO of Sector 24 police station.
Picture used for representational purpose
