2 held as plan to dispose of friend's body goes awry

NOIDA: Two youngsters were arrested on Wednesday evening after they were found carrying a friend's body while crossing Dankaur village on a motorcycle.
Police said on Thursday that locals intercepted the two-wheeler after noticing that the legs of one of the passengers were limp and were touching the ground. Locals called cops as the passengers fell off the bike as it came to a halt, also throwing the body overboard.
The accused, Salman and Rashid - both 25 and residents of Dankaur - were arrested on charges of murder on the basis of the police complaint.
The accused told cops they had been drinking and consuming drugs with Manish Sharma (24), who was unemployed but earlier worked as a guard at a hospital in the city.
"During interrogation, they said that after consuming liquor and some intoxicating substance at their rented accomodation, Manish fell unconscious and they thought he was sleeping. Later in the evening, Manish didn't respond to them, and they realised he wasn't breathing. They thought of disposing of his body to save themselves, but they were caught by locals," a senior officer part of the investigation told TOI.
Additional deputy commissioner of police (Greater Noida) Ashok Kumar said it was around 7.30pm that the accused were driving through Dankaur.
"Around 7:30pm, they were carrying Manish's body on his motorcycle. On the way from Dankaur village, the three fell down from the bike. Manish was assumed to be unconscious at the time. Locals called police and the three of them were rushed to a government hospital, where Manish was declared dead," Kumar said. As the post-mortem report couldn't point to a conclusive cause of death, viscera samples will be sent for further examination to know the exact reason, the additional DCP added.
Manish's brother Happy Sharma told TOI that Manish left his home in Dankaur with the two friends on Wednesday afternoon.
"The accused came to our house around 11:30am. Manish didn't go out with them that time as we were all at home. They came again around 1:30pm, and all three left to go out. Manish took some money and went. The two of them were on one bike and Manish was on his motorcycle," the brother said. He said the two appeared to be drunk.
"We are sure that they killed my brother and were on their way to hide the body. Why didn't they inform the family if they hadn't done anything wrong?" Happy alleged.
Based on the complaint by Manish's family, a case under section 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence or giving false information) has been registered against the accused.