Police have finally cracked the murder case of a lab employee whose body was found on a roadside in Haridwar’s Ranipur area nearly 339 days ago. The accused, a home guard identified as Abhimanyu, resident of Sakauti Gurukul, Narsan Manglaur, has been arrested for shooting the victim over a personal dispute linked to a love affair.
The body of Wasim, 21, who worked at a pathology lab in Bahadrabad, was found on January 18 in Garhmirpur village under Ranipur police station limits. Initially, the death appeared suspicious, but the matter took a serious turn the next day when family members noticed a bullet wound on his waist while preparing the body for burial as per religious rituals. The police were informed, and a post-mortem examination confirmed that Wasim had been shot.
Based on a complaint filed by the victim’s father, a case of murder against unknown persons was registered. As the investigation made little progress over several months, the responsibility of solving the case was handed over to SP City Ajay Pratap Singh. A special team led by Ranipur Kotwali in-charge Shanti Kumar Gangwar, CIU in-charge Narendra Bisht and senior sub-inspector Nitin Chauhan re-examined the case from multiple angles.
During renewed questioning and surveillance, police gathered key inputs that led them to the accused. Abhimanyu was arrested on Monday evening. During interrogation, he confessed that he was in a relationship with a woman home guard and alleged that Wasim was troubling her. Acting out of jealousy and anger, he decided to eliminate Wasim.
According to police, the accused had been tracking Wasim’s movements. On January 18, while Wasim was returning from the lab in Bahadrabad, Abhimanyu shot him in the back with a country-made pistol and fled the spot. The weapon used in the murder has been recovered.
Senior Superintendent of Police Pramendra Singh Dobal said the accused had borrowed the woman home guard’s scooty to carry out the crime. Police clarified that no involvement of the woman home guard has been found in the case. She is unmarried, while the accused is married and has two children.
