Man ropes in two friends to kill youth in Baghpat over affair with niece

NEW DELHI: Unable to come to terms with his niece being in a relationship with a youth from their village, a man conspired with his friends , one of whom was a contract killer, to murder him. The three men took the youth, Ankit (25), to Baghpat and shot him dead. They then disfigured the face, set the body on fire and returned home to Dwarka.

A probe started after police came to know about the youth going missing from his house in Bahadurgarh. The accused uncle, Pramod, and his friend, Prakash, were caught from Dwarka on Monday. Pramod told police that he had tried to convince his brother and his family to oppose the relationship, but when they didn’t agree he decided to kill the youth by himself.

DCP (Dwarka) Anto Alphonse said, “A team led by ACP Rajinder Singh were tipped off by an informer that two murderers were roaming around in Dwarka Sector 1. Pramod and Prakash were subsequently nabbed from there. A country-made pistol was seized from them.”

During interrogation, Pramod revealed that Ankit was a distant family member and was unemployed. The youth didn’t have good relations with his family. When Pramod came to know about the relationship, he became furious and confronted his niece about it. She admitted to having fallen in love with Ankit. When he took up the matter with her parents, they were reluctant to stop her from continuing the relationship. However, they didn’t oppose his plan to kill Ankit.

Ankit had been staying on rent in Bahadurgarh after leaving his parents’ house to look for a job in Haryana. He used to travel to Jhajjar to meet the girl occasionally.

On August 23, Pramod called Ankit to a secluded place in Bahadurgarh and offered him a drink. After Ankit became intoxicated, Pramod offered to take him for a ride in a car. He drove to Baghpat industrial area, stopped near a field and confronted Ankit over his affair with the girl. An argument ensued after which one of the three men shot him in the head. Prakash and the third friend then dragged the body into a ditch nearby and set it on fire.

The body was discovered by Baghpat police the next day, but they couldn’t ascertain its identity. They came to know about the murder after Pramod and Prakash were arrested. The body was handed over to Ankit’s parents after they identified it. A manhunt has been launched to nab their third friend. Delhi Police will hand over the two accused men to their counterparts in Baghpat since the murder case has been registered there.