Friend kills Delhi businessman for gold, chops body, dumps in Yamuna; 4 arrested

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• Delhi man killed by friend for gold, body found in Yamuna
• Four suspects arrested, one accomplice still absconding
• Victim's remains found after joint police investigation

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In a chilling case driven by greed for gold, a 48-year-old Delhi businessman was allegedly murdered by his friend and associates, who then dismembered his body and disposed of the remains in the Yamuna river near Vrindavan. Police have arrested four individuals, including a woman, in connection with the brutal killing.

Anroop Gupta, who ran a canteen at Chhattisgarh Sadan in Dwarka, had been missing since February 18. His disappearance, initially believed to be voluntary, culminated in a macabre discovery after coordinated efforts between Delhi and Uttar Pradesh Police led to the recovery of mutilated body parts from a canal in Mathura.

A grief-stricken relative was cited by TOI as summing up the family's ordeal: "We waited with a hope that he would come back. Instead, we had to bring him in pieces."

The prime accused, 29-year-old Happy alias Suraj, had befriended Gupta about a year ago. Noticing the businessman's fondness for gold and the fact that he lived apart from his family, Happy allegedly decided to target him, roping in his live-in partner Rakhi (21) and associates Bhupender (27), Balram (28) and Neeraj.

On February 18, Happy lured Gupta to his Matiala flat for a party. There, the group allegedly tied him up and beat him, demanding money. When Gupta said his gold rings and bracelet were in his Kia Seltos parked at the canteen, they took his keys, retrieved the vehicle and the jewellery.

When Gupta refused to give them more money, they stabbed him to death. In what police described as a "shocking act of brutality," Happy then procured a machete and cut the body into pieces. The remains were packed in plastic bags, loaded into Gupta's SUV and dumped in the Yamuna near Vrindavan.

To mislead investigators, the accused kept Gupta's phone switched on and inside a moving car. They sent messages from it to his canteen staff asking them to close up and to his family claiming he was on a Goa vacation.

DCP (Dwarka) Ankit Singh said CCTV footage showed Gupta entering the Matiala building but never leaving. "We checked CCTV footage for three days at toll plazas and the place of the incident to trace the victim's movement," DCP Singh was quoted by PTI as saying.

Further scrutiny revealed suspicious movement of the victim's car, which was observed entering and exiting the building's basement before heading towards the Yamuna Expressway on the night of February 19-20. NHAI toll data confirmed the SUV travelled to Vrindavan and returned to Noida within hours.

Happy, Rakhi, Bhupender and Balram have been arrested. Neeraj remains absconding. Gupta's father lives in Faridabad; his wife and son live separately. Police are also trying to identify a woman Gupta was reportedly staying with in Dwarka.