Murder over Bitcoin: Ghaziabad man kills cousin to dodge repaying Rs 3 lakh loan to uncle

Police said he took his 12-year-old cousin out on the pretext of watching a movie and allegedly killed him.
Ghaziabad Police arrested the accused on Sunday after the victim’s body was found in a deserted park in Delhi. Police also recovered a blood-stained brick, mud and clothing from the spot.

Police said the accused pursued a cabin crew course and is a resident of Khoda Colony.

Assistant Commissioner of Police, Indirapuram, Abhishek Shrivastav, said the victim had gone missing on September 16. “His mother filed a missing person’s complaint. Police lodged a case under BNS 137(2), following which teams were formed to trace him,” he said.

“When we began probing the case, we found CCTV footage that showed the victim walking at times and sitting in e-rickshaws. We also spotted the accused’s bike in the footage as well. This is when we picked him up for questioning,” said the ACP.

The ACP said the accused admitted to killing the boy.

“His uncle had sold his house for Rs 25 lakh which was mediated by the accused. When the client gave him the money, he borrowed Rs 3 lakh from his uncle and invested it in Bitcoin. But his uncle began asking him for Rs 50,000,” said officers.

The accused allegedly told police during questioning, “I had no money to give him. My uncle trusted my family a lot. He had a daughter and a son. I thought if I killed the son, I would inherit all his property and would not have to pay him back. I took my uncle’s ATM card and passbook on the pretext of returning the money, and asked my cousin to come along on the pretext of a movie.”

Instead, the ACP said, the accused took the child to a park in Delhi’s Preet Vihar. There, he allegedly strangled him to death, smashed his head with a brick and left his body there.

The accused also told police he had receed the route from his uncle’s home to the Delhi park to check for CCTV cameras so he could avoid them and throw police off his trail.

“I had recced the route a day prior and checked for CCTVs on the way. When I knew we were crossing a spot with a camera, I would ask my cousin to get off the bike — this way I took him to the park,” the accused told them, said officers.

Police also said the accused later joined the family in the search for the missing child to deflect suspicion.
“On the basis of technical surveillance, CCTV inputs and local intelligence, the accused was traced and arrested. He has admitted to the crime,” said a senior police officer.

The FIR, initially registered under Section 137(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for kidnapping, now includes murder charges under Section 103(1) BNS.

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