Himalaya Harbinger, Rudrapur Bureau
The Udham Singh Nagar police have arrested four persons, including the wife of the victim, for the murder of Sumit Srivastava, a 26-year-old auto driver and a resident of Rampura colony in district headquarters, Rudrapur on Friday. The deceased’s body was recovered from a field in Preet Vihar Colony. Two other accused remain at large.
On November 16, Renu Srivastava, 24, filed a missing person report at Rudrapur police station, stating her husband Sumit had been missing since the night of November 14. Police investigations, including analysis of CCTV footage and surveillance, pointed to Ganesh Chandra, 22, a resident of Rampura Colony.
“Initially, Ganesh misled the investigation, but under sustained interrogation, he confessed to the crime,” said District’s SSP Manikant Mishra. Ganesh revealed that he was romantically involved with Renu and, at her behest, conspired with Vansh, Deepak Koli, Shivam alias Judi, and Govinda to murder Sumit.
The accused strangled Sumit with a shoelace, disposed of his body in the Kalyani River. Two days later, the accused returned to check if it had drifted away. They discovered one of the victim’s hands protruding from the water. Fearing exposure, they retrieved the body and subsequently buried the body in a field and also added salt to hasten decomposition and conceal evidence. Based on Ganesh’s confession, police arrested Renu, Vansh, and Deepak, all of whom admitted to their involvement.
“The accused led us to the burial site, where we exhumed the body on November 18. Postmortem proceedings were conducted, and the arrested individuals were charged under relevant sections including section 103 of the BNS,” SSP Mishra added.
The two absconding suspects, Shivam alias Judi and Govinda, remain at large, and efforts are underway to nab them.
