Friend murdered Delhi engineer for ransom, buried body

New Delhi, April 6 (IANS) The body of a young engineer was found in Delhi Friday, three days after he went missing, police said adding that one of his friends had masterminded the kidnap-cum-murder for a ransom of Rs.1 crore.

"Engineer Johny Gupta, around 24 years of age and resident of Paschim Vihar, was found murdered in Nangloi early Friday," said police. This was the second case of kidnapping and murder for ransom involving a friend that took place in Delhi within a fortnight.

The victim's friend, along with two accomplices, was arrested Thursday night, police said. Gupta's body was found after the accused were interrogated.

"Anoop, friend of the deceased, was arrested after tracing the call details of Gupta. He is the mastermind of the case," Joint Commissioner of Special Cell R.S. Krishnaiah said.

Police said Gupta was kidnapped from the Keshavpuram Industrial Area Tuesday evening where he had gone to meet a friend.

After he was kidnapped, Gupta was taken to a semi-constructed warehouse of one of the accused. Gupta was killed when he tried to flee, said a senior police official.

The body was found wrapped in polythene and buried in Nangloi. The accused had even used salt to hasten the decomposition of the body, police said.

Police added that the accused had got information that Gupta's father had come into a large amount of money, prompting them to ask for a ransom of Rs.1 crore.

Investigations are on and police are waiting for the post-mortem report to ascertain the exact cause of death.

Barely 15 days ago, a teenaged boy was kidnapped and murdered. Ashish Kumar Garg, the son of a Dwarka-based businessman, went missing March 21 and later his body was found. Police said he too was killed by his friends for ransom.