PNS | DEHRADUN
The police arrested two men Naveen Kumar Chaudhary (36) and Anant Jain (29) for allegedly murdering 75-year-old Ashok Kumar Garg in the Vasant Vihar area. The Dehradun senior superintendent of police Ajai Singh said that the incident occurred on December 9 at Alaknanda Enclave, where neighbours reported hearing screams from the elderly man’s house.
Upon arriving, the police found Garg with severe injuries to his neck and abdomen. Despite medical assistance, he succumbed to his wounds at the hospital. Singh said that initial investigations revealed no signs of forced entry or robbery. The SSP formed eight teams to analyse CCTV footage from nearby areas. The footage captured two suspects leaving the vicinity in a red e-rickshaw but failed to provide clear images of their faces. Singh said, “The breakthrough came when an e-rickshaw driver recalled dropping two individuals to Milan Vihar cut, where police conducted extensive searches and identified a suspicious scooter linked to the suspects. After tracking the scooter to a park near Mount Fort Academy, the police team mapped the area and began checking residential flats. Two men matching the suspects’ descriptions were detained and subsequent interrogation revealed their involvement. The suspects Chaudhary and Jain, 29 confessed to the crime.”
The SSP said that according to the accused Chaudhary who works in pest control, he had financial difficulties and was searching for a rental room on the ground floor as his wife is pregnant. Jain, a loan agent, lived near the victim and informed Chaudhary about a vacant room in Garg’s house. The suspects initially visited Garg’s home under the pretext of renting a room and learned he lived alone. Spotting a bank passbook with large balances during their visit, they returned later with the intent to extort money. They lured Garg to the back of the house and demanded cash, threatening him with a paper cutter.
When Garg resisted and screamed for help, they panicked and attacked him, causing fatal injuries before fleeing. To mislead the police, they discarded the weapon and their clothes the following day, the SSP said. The police recovered the victim’s wallet, identification cards, ATM card, and Rs. 1,500 in cash from the suspects. The murder weapon, a paper cutter, was also located based on their confession.
