52-year-old man’s head severed, body dumped in field in tiff over loan repayment

New Delhi: A 52-year-old man was allegedly abducted from Delhi and killed in an agricultural field in Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh, where his headless and decomposed body was recovered by the local police on July 16, four days after the crime, police said on Sunday.

The accused, Riyasat, allegedly killed Shahzad with the help of his nephew and a friend, after the victim failed to repay a loan of ₹25,000. Riyasat and his associate, Javed, have been arrested; his nephew, Nadeem, is still absconding, the police said.

Riyasat told the police that he loaned ₹25,000 to Shahzad on three to four occasions on interest, and that the victim was required to return a certain amount per day over a fixed period, to return the loan and pay the interest. Shahzad last borrowed ₹4,500, and was to return ₹100 daily for two months as part of the loan deal. It meant that apart from the principal amount ( ₹4,500), Shahjad wasto pay ₹1,500 as interest, said deputy commissioner of police (Shahdara) R Sathiyasundaram.

“Shahzad stopped paying the daily amount after 12 days. When Riyasat demanded his money back, Shahzad picked up a fight with him. To avenge his insult, Riyasat abducted Shahzad with the help of Nadeem and Javed, and took him to Baghpat in UP,” the DCP said.

Police said on July 13, a missing person’s report was registered for Shahzad was filed at the Seemapuri police station by his family members. His family told the police that Shahzad left home on July 12, but did not return and his mobile phone was also not reachable. He worked as a house painter.

When the police and Shahzad’s family members were looking for him, a headless and decomposed body was found in a field in Baghpat on July 16. The Seemapuri police learnt about it and took Shahzad’s family members to Baghpat, where they identified the body by its clothes and identification marks on the body. The head was missing, the DCP said.

“We registered a case of kidnapping, murder and destruction of evidence under Indian Penal Code’s Sections 365, 302 and 201 at the Seemapuri police station and investigation was taken up,” said DCP Sathiyasundaram.

During preliminary investigation, the police team probed the role of Shahzad’s daughter-in-law and her family members, after learning that she had filed a rape case against him and his brother last year. However, no evidence was found against them.

Then, the police came to know that Shahzad used to borrow money from Riyasat, who lived in the same neighbourhood. It was also established that Shahzad was last seen with Riyasat. When Riyasat was questioned, he confessed to the murder and revealed the role of Nadeem and Javed.

“We arrested Riyasat and Javed on Saturday night. Riyasat disclosed that he lured Shahjad to Baghpat in his Esteem car in the name of providing him a contract to paint a house and also eat mangoes in a farm. Javed and Nadeem joined them on the way. They offered liquor to Shahzad, and when he was drunk, Riyasat and Nadeem took him to the field and killed him with a meat cleaver. They severed Shahzad’s head and threw it in a canal near Muradnagar while returning to Delhi,” DCP Sathiyasundaram said.

Police said they are trying to find the missing body part, and arrest Nadeem.