Haryana: Teenager strangled, body stuffed in sack & left near bridge; 1 held

GURGAON: A 27-year-old tyre-repair mechanic allegedly forced a 13-year-old boy into his house in Tigaon area and strangled him on April 6 night because he suspected the minor had stolen Rs 100 from his residence.

Later, he allegedly stuffed the body into a sack, biked to a bridge near Agra Canal and left it there. With the arrest of Suraj Kumar from the Tigaon area on Monday, Faridabad police claimed to have solved the murder case.
Police said the boy’s family earlier lived as tenants at Suraj's house. On April 8, police received information about the sack and recovered the body. They later sent it for an autopsy, which suggested strangulation as the cause of death.
The victim's uncle and complainant, Harpal Singh, told TOI, “At 8.30 pm on April 6, my 13-year-old nephew, Tarun Kumar, a student of Class 6, stepped out of his home to play with his friends. When he did not return till late that night, we started a search for him. Later, we reached Tigaon police station and lodged a missing report.”
Harpal said the family was worried and kept the search on the next day. “On April 8, some villagers noticed a sack near the Agra Canal bridge and informed others about it. We heard about it and reached the spot, and I identified the body. Since our family had never been in any fight, we did not think anyone would murder the boy. We had been trying to reach him on his mobile phone, which had remained switched off.”
On Monday, the boy’s family heard from police that their former landlord committed the murder.
“This is not the first such incident; two years ago, Suraj had pushed my brother-in-law and broken his leg after a verbal spat. Police told us Suraj has claimed that my nephew tried to steal Rs 100, so he killed him. I am sure his family members are also involved in this case, and police must investigate their role,” Harpal said.
At a press conference on Monday, ACP (crime) Surender Sheoran said, “On April 8, we recovered the body. An autopsy suggested strangulation. After the boy’s identification, we handed over the body to his family and registered a case of murder. With the arrest of Suraj, we have finally solved the case.”
The crime investigation team checked CCTV footage and mobile networks to arrest Suraj, who allegedly confessed to his crime during interrogation. “Suraj said he murdered the boy on a suspicion that he stole from his house. On April 6, he coaxed the boy to his house and strangled him. He kept the body in the house overnight before getting rid of it. We will take him into police remand,” said the ACP.
So far, police have recovered the cable Suraj used to strangle the boy, the bike he used to carry the body up to the bridge and the boy’s mobile phone.
“During the remand, we will try to collect more information about the case. We have filed an FIR under IPC section 302 (murder) against Suraj in Tigaon police station,” Faridabad police spokesperson Sube Singh said.