U.P. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday asked officials to consider evoking the National Security Act against a person who allegedly murdered his friend and made a ransom call for ₹20 lakh to his family in Kanpur Dehat.
The body of the victim, Brijesh Kumar, an employee of a weighbridge company, was recovered from a well in the Devrahat area 12 days after he went missing, said the police. On July 17, Kumar’s family had lodged a complaint with the Bhognipur police when he did not return home from work on July 16. They also received a ransom call for ₹20 lakh.
Kanpur Dehat SP Anurag Vats said the accused, Subodh Sachan, a truck driver and a ‘friend’ of the victim, had been arrested. Sachan first lured Kumar to meet him on July 16 night and in a car, offered him a soft drink laced with sleeping pills, following which Kumar lost consciousness, said the SP.
Sachan then used a rope to kill Kumar and drove the car to Devrahat where he dumped the body in a well, Mr. Vats said. A few hours later, Sachan made a ransom call to Kumar’s family, he allegedly confessed to the police. Amid allegations that the police had made lapses in the case, and parallels being drawn with the Kanpur lab technician kidnap and murder case, Mr. Vats clarified that Kumar had been murdered a few hours prior to the ransom call. Mr. Vats said Sachan had a debt of ₹4-₹5 lakh for the two trucks he had purchased.
Mr. Adityanath also asked officials to fix accountability in the case. He announced a compensation of ₹5 lakh to the kin of the victim.
