Delhi Police have arrested two men for allegedly abducting their 21-year-old friend from near his house in south Delhi’s Lado Sarai and then bludgeoning him to death with a stone. Police said that the duo took the man to Manesar, where they killed him. They then burnt his body to erase evidence and abandoned his scooter in Munirka to mislead the police.

The victim has been identified as Neeraj Kumar. Police have arrested two of Neeraj’s friends — Amit Kumar (19) and Ishant Mehra (19) — for the murder.

Deputy commissioner of police (south) Vijay Kumar said that on July 1, Neeraj’s father reported that his son had left the house on June 27 around 12.30 pm and had failed to return ever since. “We registered a missing persons report and searches were conducted for tracing him. During probe, Neeraj’s family members told us that he often used to stay out of his house but his friends always knew of his whereabouts,” Kumar said.

On this, the police rounded up some of Neeraj’s friends and focussed their probe on two of them — Amit Kumar and Ishant Mehra. “Some contradictions were noticed in their statements. On being subjected to sustained interrogation, Amit broke down on July 13 and disclosed that he once stayed next to Neeraj’s house and worked at a restaurant. Amit said he had stolen some money from the restaurant to buy alcohol and was fired by the owner after which he shifted to his native village in Neemrana,” the DCP said.

He also told police that in his absence, Neeraj used to talk ill about him. “He also said that he had borrowed money from some people in Lado Sarai. He said Neeraj used to make those people call his parents and demand money. This left him annoyed and he planned to kill him. He then roped in his school friend Ishant Mehra, who lives in Dakshinpuri and both rented a room in Khanpur,” the officer said.

DCP Kumar said, on June 27, Mehra and Amit called Neeraj to their flat and offered him drinks. “After getting drunk they went to Gurugram and purchased more liquor. The trio then went to Manesar where they drank until Neeraj passed out. After that,the two men bludgeoned him with stones and fled the spot. They returned the next morning and burnt Neeraj’s body with the help of petrol. They took his scooter and abandoned it in Munirka to mislead the investigators. They later also switched off his phone,” the DCP said. Police have recovered the burnt remains of Neeraj’s body at the instance of alleged killers.

First Published: Jul 15, 2019 07:57 IST