Lawyer Found Murdered in UP's Bulandshahr, Friend Among Three Held

The lawyer who had gone missing from Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr under mysterious circumstances a week ago was allegedly murdered by his friend, police said on Saturday after recovering the body from a warehouse of the accused. According to them, Dharmendra Chaudhary had given Rs 60 lakh to his friend Vivek, who with the "intention of not returning it", strangled him to death with the assistance of his two servants.

They buried the body in a eight-foot deep pit in the warehouse. Police said all three accused have been arrested on the murder charge.

Senior Superintendent of Police Santosh Kumar Singh said Dharmendra Chaudhary, a resident of Gulshan Vihar Colony of Khurja, was into the property business. After he went missing on July 25 night, his brother Gajendra lodged a complaint with police, stating that he had not enmity with anyone, the SSP said. On July 26 morning, the lawyer's motorbike was found from a pit near Khabra village, around six kilometres from his house.

During investigation, police was informed that he had gone to his friend Vivek's godown. The SSP said Vivek initially told police that Chaudhary had come to his place to have dinner. There he received a call on his mobile phone and went out, saying he will be back after five minutes.

Vivek said as the lawyer did not come even after two hours, he and his servants Hakeemuddin and Amit left the place, the SSP added. On July 27 night, the lawyer's family found a diary in his cupboard, mentioning that he had given Rs 60 lakh on interest to Vivek. His family shared this with police, on which the footage of the CCTV camera installed at the Vivek's godown was seen, the SSP said.

It was found that the lawyer had come to the godown but didn't return after which police asked Vivek to go through a polygraph test. When he was taken to Delhi for the test, he refused to undergo it, citing ill-health, the officer said. This deepened suspicion. When police questioned Vivek and his servants, they confessed to their crime.

The SSP said Vivek got himself engaged in the investigation so that no one could suspect him. SSP Singh said Vivek asked his servants to assist him in the crime and promised to help them build their houses in return.