Date:26/04/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/04/26/stories/2008042651700300.htm

New Delhi

Held for killing property dealer

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: A businessman and his two accomplices have been arrested by the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police on charges of kidnapping a property dealer from Dwarka here for a ransom of Rs.1 crore and then dumping his body at Rohtak in Haryana after killing him last month.

Kusumlata, wife of Balbir Singh, lodged a complaint with the police on March 24 that her husband had gone missing a day earlier. His vehicle was later found abandoned on the Delhi-Saharanpur Road in Baghpat. While efforts were on to trace him, his relative Surinder Gahlot received a ransom call on April 8 demanding Rs.1 crore for his release. Subsequently the case was transferred to the Crime Branch.

Investigations revealed that Singh was last seen with his friend Chhattar Singh, who was not found in his house. Suspecting his involvement, the Crime Branch sleuths put his activities under surveillance and zeroed in on his two acquaintances Manoj and Miraj Khan.

The police found that Manoj, a driver, was on leave the day Singh was murdered. He had also taken a day off from work the day the kidnappers made the ransom call. On April 16, the police picked him up for questioning.

Mastermind

During interrogation, Manoj allegedly confessed to his involvement. At Manoj’s instance, the police arrested Chhattar on Sunday. He allegedly confessed to having masterminded the kidnapping-cum-murder. During interrogation, he told the police that he was in dire need of money as his shophad been sealed by the MCD.