The body of a lawyer who went missing from Khurja town of Bulandhshar district on July 25 was recovered from a tiles godown in the town on Friday, police said. Three persons, including the owner of the godown, have been detained in this regard.
Dharmendra Chaudhary had gone missing under mysterious circumstances from Gulshan Vihar Colony of Khurja. His motorcycle was found abandoned in Khabra village adjoining a jungle.
In what seemed like premeditated murder, police sources said, Mr Chaudhary was invited to the godown for dinner and later killed over a financial dispute.
Santosh Kumar Singh, Senior Superintendent of Police, Bulandshahr, said preliminary investigation revealed that the owner of a tiles godown owed money to Mr Chaudhary. “Mr Chaudhary also worked as a property dealer and lent money. We have detained Vicky, the owner of the godown, and two of his aides.”
Mr Singh said that during the investigation a diary of Mr Chaudhary was found in which there were details of ₹70-80 lakh lent to different people. “Family members told us that he lent money through Vicky at an interest of 4-5%. The diary details showed that the interest was pending and the amount has swelled up to ₹10 lakh. There was no direct evidence against Vicky but CCTV footage indicated that Mr Chaudhary entered his shop and didn’t come out.”
On the basis of the footage, the police asked Vicky to take the lie detector test, which he initially agreed to, but later backed out citing health reasons. “This almost confirmed our doubt,” said Mr Singh. When the investigating team reached the godown, they could sense the stench of a rotting body. “After three hours, the body was found buried in a cement pit covered with tiles,” Mr Singh said.
