Man beheads friend, throws body in river; now arrested

A 30-year-old man was hit on the head with empty beer bottles, beheaded and thrown into the Yamuna in May. A probe has now led to the arrest of his friend, police said on Monday.  

Lateef was accused by Ripan of being a police informer and of not returning a Rs 1 lakh loan. Ripan, a resident of Madanpur Khadar near south-east Delhi’s Jamia Nagar, has confessed to the crime, police said. 

“The body was found by Noida Police on June 3, and it has now been identified by Lateef’s wife,” said Ajay Chaudhry, additional commissioner of police (south east).
Lateef’s wife told police that he had gone to meet someone at Okhla Vihar on May 31, but did not return home even till June 4. “His wife approached police after which an abduction case was lodged with Jamia Nagar police station,” Chaudhry added.

During investigation, local police received information that Lateef had been murdered. A
police team then started working on leads provided by witnesses and informers were deployed. A close watch was also kept on suspected persons, which led to Ripan’s arrest.  On interrogation, Ripan told police that he was Lateef’s friend and they had a dispute over the loan.

On May 31, Lateef went to Ripan’s house to resolve the dispute and was invited to join him and his friends for a drinking session. Ripan then called his friends Qutub and Roni over, and they all went to Kalindi Kunj on motorcycles. They bought beer and drank it on the bank of Yamuna.

Ripan allegedly accused Lateef of providing information about his illegal activities to police. This angered Lateef, and the two had a heated argument. Ripan then decided to kill Lateef, police said.

He went to his house and brought his car, asking Lateef to join him on a joyride, police said.

Once in the car, Ripan hit Lateef on the head with empty beer bottles, making him unconscious. Ripan and his two friends then strangled him, chopped his neck with a sharp knife and threw the torse into the Yamuna.

They threw Lateef’s head too into the river some distance away to ensure that the body remained unidentified. They then washed the car thoroughly and burnt Lateef’s and their own blood-stained clothes. In police custody, Ripan pointed out the place where they had thrown Lateef’s body.

Qutub and Roni are still absconding.

Noida Police had found a mutilated male body on June 3 on the bank of the Yamuna. The description of the body matched with Lateef’s. The victim’s wife also identified it on the basis of a photograph.