Bijnor: A district court rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Delhi-based advocate Raj Narayan, whom police have identified as the alleged mastermind in the murder of 82-year-old businessman Anil Kumar Soti in Bijnor.
Investigators said they were now preparing to seek a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against Narayan, who has not been arrested.
The FIR, registered at Bijnor City police station on Aug 7, named Gaurav, Shailendra, Sunil and Naved under BNS section 103(1) (murder). Police alleged that an earlier attempt to implicate Anil in a false case had failed, following which Narayan planned his murder and offered Nisha Rs 10 lakh to carry it out. Investigators said Aleemuddin conducted a recce on Aug 1. On Aug 6, Nisha, Aleemuddin and Hina travelled from Delhi to Bijnor by taxi, while Subhash was called from Noorpur. Police recovered Rs 16,000 from Nisha and Rs 12,240 from Aleemuddin, besides the cord allegedly used to strangle Soti from Subhash.
Police said Narayan’s alleged role surfaced during the investigation. He was Gaurav’s lawyer, while four others — Anjum Parveen alias Nisha, Aleemuddin, Subhash and Hina — were subsequently arrested in connection with the case and sent to jail. Nisha then allegedly involved her brother Aleemuddin, sister Hina and acquaintance Subhash in the plan. Police alleged that three of them kept watch outside Anil’s house while Nisha entered and strangled him with a black cord.
The four later returned to Delhi and were arrested on Tuesday after coming back to Bijnor to meet Narayan, having learnt that a murder case had been registered.
Details Emerge in Property Dispute Case
Investigators have learned that Nisha, a clerk for Raj Narayan, disclosed that lawyer Gaurav received a significant payment to manage a property dispute. This information was provided by an officer familiar with the ongoing investigation.