2 held for killing youth over suspected affair; 3rd accused on run

Bijnor: Two men were arrested on Thursday evening for allegedly killing a 21-year-old youth from Padli Mandu village in Bijnor district over a suspected affair with a family member. A third accomplice remains at large, police said on Friday.

Shubham Singh had been missing since Sunday and his body was recovered near a canal behind the village cemetery along with his identification card. A missing complaint had been initially lodged on Tuesday at Kotwali Dhampur police station by his father, Om Prakash Saini. “After reviewing CCTV footage, he filed a formal complaint against neighbour Virendra Singh, 48, his son Ankush and Ankush’s friend Gaurav, both in their 20s, accusing them of murder,” said Bijnor SP Abhishek Jha.

Police said Shubham frequently visited Virendra’s house, which led the accused to believe that Shubham was having an affair with Virendra’s daughter-in-law. Despite receiving multiple warnings, Shubham allegedly continued the relationship, fueling tensions between the families and causing resentment as the matter became local gossip.

“During interrogation, Ankush and Gaurav confessed that the long-standing dispute drove them to commit the crime, even though a confrontation between them last month had been temporarily settled by family members,” the SP said. He added, “On that fateful day, the accused covered Shubham’s face with a plastic sack, strangled him with a belt, and then dumped his body and hid his ID card in an attempt to prevent identification.”

The body has been sent for postmortem and a case has been registered against the accused under BNS section 103(1) (murder). Efforts are underway to nab Virendra who is absconding, police said.