Nuh: Doctor murdered by friend in Nuh to avoid loan repayment

he two suspects had stored the body in the boot of a car and drove it to Haridwar where they dumped it in Ganga on the night of August 29, said police.

A 59-year-old doctor was strangled to death by two people including his close friend inside a car at Punhana in Nuh and his body was dumped in river Ganga in Haridwar, police said on Saturday.

The accused, Deepak Kumar in police custody. (HT)

The murder took place on the night of August 28. The two suspects had stored the body in the boot of a car and drove it to Haridwar where they dumped it in Ganga on the night of August 29, said police officers familiar with the case.

The deceased was identified as Dr Vinod Goyal who lived in Punhana and ran a hospital and an ultrasound centre. The prime accused was identified as Deepak Kumar alias Deepak Rajasthani, 42, also a resident of Punhana. The suspect, a former ward councillor, owns a utensil manufacturing factory there and was close friend of Goyal since 2012, said police.

Police said that Kumar was detained for questioning on Friday night and was arrested on Saturday after he confessed to killing Goyal.

Jitender Kumar Rana, Punhana deputy superintendent of police (DSP), said that Kumar had taken an overall loan of ₹23 lakh in installments from Goyal in the last few years.

“Recently, Goyal has asked Kumar if he was in condition to return some of the amount. Kumar feared that he may have to return the entire amount soon and thus planned the murder. He was already under debt of ₹1.5 crore taken from banks and other persons,” said DSP Rana.

Rana said that Kumar asked Goyal to meet him near his factory on the night of August 28 following which he turned up at the spot. “As soon as he sat on the front seat of Kumar’s car, Kumar and his associate Ashok Gupta strangulated him,” he said.

Investigators said that after the murder, Kumar and Gupta placed the body in the boot of the car and left it parked inside the factory near Ghidi Mor in Punhana. Meanwhile, Kumar sent a message from Goyal’s mobile phone to one of his hospital staff and his family that he was going out of the town for a week and his whereabouts must not be disclosed to anyone.

On the next day, Kumar asked Mohammad Mustakeem, a pickup van driver for his factory, to drive him to Palwal in his Venue car. However, midway, Kumar changed plans and asked Mustakeem to take him and Gupta to Haridwar for taking a bath in Ganga, said police.

On the night of August 29, they reached Haridwar after which Kumar and Gupta dumped the body in the river and returned. However, Mustakeen had grown suspicious because Kumar kept spraying perfume inside the car throughout the journey which was to cover any foul smell of the body, said police.

Inspector Rajesh Kumar Yadav, station house officer of City Punhana police station, said that the trio returned to Nuh on August 30.

“Goyal’s family had filed a missing complaint on September 3 when they failed to contact him as his phone was off,” he said, adding that Mustakeem approached police on Friday night suspecting foul play when he came to know that the doctor was missing.

“He told us about Kumar’s journey to Haridwar and his act of spraying perfume inside the car following which we detained him for questioning and he confessed to the crime,” Yadav said, adding his associate was yet to be arrested.

Police said the missing person’s complaint submitted at City Punhana police station was turned into a murder case on Saturday.