GREATER NOIDA: A day after retired businessman Narendra Nath, a cousin of Congress leader Kamal Nath, and his wife were found murdered in their house in Greater Noida, the police probe has reached MP’s Gwalior, where the local cops on Saturday detained two men, including the father of the prime suspect.
In Greater Noida too, police have rounded up seven people, including one who had borrowed money from Narendra on interest.
Narendra (70) and his wife Suman (65) were found murdered in their house in Greater Noida’s Alpha II on Friday morning. The injuries indicated that Narendra had been tied up, gagged and brutally clobbered with a blunt object before being strangled, while Suman was badly thrashed and then shot in the chest.
One of Narendra’s relatives, meanwhile, told TOI that there were many people to whom he had lent money. “Narendra had given Rs 15 lakh to one person, named Kapil, as his share of a “committee (informal money collection from several persons and taking a lump sum by one at the end of a fixed-time period)” and he had been dilly-dallying in paying it back,” he said.
“He runs a canteen somewhere in Greater Noida. While Narendra gave Rs 15 lakh in this, when his turn came, Kapil claimed that the money was reinvested. Another person called Alok had also borrowed money from him but he had been returning the same with interest. Some local vendors also took money in some thousands,” the relative added.
Though the Greater Noida police have identified three suspects, including a local chowmein seller who too would borrow money from the deceased, they believe the main accused in the gruesome double murder have fled towards MP after orchestrating the crime. However, seven people, including two to whom Narendra had given money , a plumber, an electrician and some hawkers, have been detained for questioning.
Additional DCP (Greater Noida) Vishal Pandey told TOI that they’re close to nabbing the accused. “Seven suspects are being interrogated. We have identified some of the accused who are on the run. Teams have been formed to trace them,” he said.
Their counterparts in Gwalior, meanwhile, claimed to have detained two men — Dev Sharma and Lallu Singh Bhadoria. One of them is said to be the father of the prime accused involved in the double murder.
They were detained from Govardhan Colony and Sainik Colony, which are in the jurisdiction of Gole Ka Mandir police station. “The duo was questioned at the local police station and taken away to UP,” an official said.
However, Narendra’s son-in-law Jatin Thankappan said there could be at least four-five persons behind the crime. “The way they were killed, it suggests that the accused were at least four-five in number. There is a possibility that after committing the crime, the accused have reentered the basement and consumed liquor and eatables. Some plates were found lying at a corner of the entrance,” he said.
Police suspect that the murder was committed between 11.30pm on Thursday and 5.30am the next morning.
“Phone records indicate that Suman had last spoken to her son-in-law and daughter around 10.55pm on Thursday, and her phone was switched off around 25 minutes later. Suman’s daughter had been trying her number from as early as 5.30am but it was not reachable. An anxious daughter and her husband reached their house after some time,” a police official said.
Family sources also claimed that Narendra’s phone has been recovered by cops in the same sector.
“A close family member has been told by police that the accused’s phone has been recovered from near Heritage Resort,” a family member said. However, on record, police claimed that the phone is yet to be recovered.