A man who was missing for the past 20 years in connection with the kidnapping and murder of a Delhi-based businessman for ransom was arrested from near the Ramlila Maidan in Mainpuri, Uttar Pradesh, where he was living in disguise as a chole bhature vendor after changing his identity to evade the police, Delhi Police said.
An official of Delhi Police’s Crime Branch said that to track the movement of Sipahi Lal a.k.a Gurdayal, ASI Sonu Nain posed as a mango seller and put up a ‘rehri’ near the Ramlila Maidan in Mainpuri.
Sharing details of the 20-year-old case, the police said that on October 31, 2004, a businessman named Ramesh Chand Gupta left his house in Delhi’s Shakarpur area in his Santro car, but did not return home.
His brother Jagdish Kumar filed a case of kidnapping with the Shalimar Bagh police station. On November 2, 2004, Mr Gupta’s car was found deposited at the Bahadurgarh police station, but the man was still missing.
Based on the suspicion of the family members, a person named Mukesh Vats was arrested.
“On interrogation, Vats disclosed that he along with his associates Sipahi Lal, Shareef Khan, Kamlesh, and Rajesh abducted Gupta and later killed him,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime), Rakesh Pawariya.
Vats ran a vegetable business at the Azadpur Mandi and Shareef Khan, Kamlesh, Rajesh, and Sipahi Lal were his employees.
The accused put the body in a gunny bag and dumped the same in a drain near Karala village.
During the investigation, Shareef Khan and Kamlesh were arrested from Karala where Gupta’s body was also found.
However, Sipahi Lal and Rajesh could not be arrested and were declared proclaimed offenders by the court.
“Recently, the police got a tip-off that Sipahi Lal was selling chole bhature under a different name near the Ramlila Maidan in Mainpuri. To trace his movement and activities, ASI Sonu Nain was placed there in the disguise of a mango seller,” the DCP said.
After two days, the ASI came to know that Sipahi Lal was selling chole bhature under the name of Gurdayal.
“When confronted, he tried to hoodwink the police by identifying himself as Gurdayal. But later he broke down and disclosed his real name and identity. The accused has been arrested under the appropriate sections of the law,” the DCP added.
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