Cops crack Kanpur trader’s murder

Prakhar Walia (28) was murdered on late Tuesday night by his friends Ankur Dwivedi and Sharad Sharma. After shooting at Walia,they had set him on fire and dumped the body in Bithoor area.

The two have confessed to their crime. Following a complaint by Walia’s father B S Walia,a case on charges of murder,loot,kidnapping and hiding of evidence of offence has been registered against the accused at Gwaloti police station. Two gold chains,one gold bracelet,four rings,a countrymade pistol of .315 bore and the car used for the murder has been recovered from their possession.

Walia,who had agencies for ITC and Duncan Tea,came from a financially sound backgroud.

“He wore four rings — two gold and two diamond rings — two gold chains worth around Rs 1 lakh each and a gold bracelet,” said ASP (Kanpur West) Mohit Gupta told mediapersons.

“In the last few weeks,Dwivedi and Sharma had lost over Rs 30,000 to Walia in gambling. Dwivedi hatched the conspiracy to abduct and steal from Walia and his friend Sharma supported him,” he added.

The accused believed that Walia had resorted to foul means to win.

“On several occasions,Walia had publicly humiliated us. Therefore,we desperately wanted to teach him a lesson. The initial plan was to kidnap and steal from him. But we feared that if he was released,he will get us arrested. Therefore,we decided to murder him in such a manner that his body will not be identified,” Dwivedi told mediapersons soon after his arrest.

Dwivedi added that he had borrowed the countrymade pistol from his friend Anoop — a resident of Usmanpur locality.

On Tuesday evening,the accused had picked up Walia from Hotel K D Palace,where he had gone to attend a wedding along with his family.

The three men went to Bithoor — situated on the outskirts of Kanpur. After murdeing Walia and dumping his body,the two disappeared.

On Wednesday morning,Bithoor police recovered a semi-charred body.

“We identified Walia as only half of his face was burnt. While Dwivedi,who stays in the adjoining Barra locality,has been a close friend of Walia for a long time,my son came in contact with Sharma through him,” said his father.

While Dwivedi’s father is an employee at the Kanpur Development Authority,Sharma’s father owns a small shop of electronic goods.

Based on the information provided by Walia’s father,the police traced the call details of Walia,Dwivedi and Sharma.

“When their involvement was confirmed,we arrested the two from Mandana area,” said the ASP. The police are looking for Anoop.