The police and Special Operation Group (SOG) have nabbed Gaurav Gupta, the main accused in the December 15 daylight murder of property dealer Bhupendra Pandey.
The police used surveillance to nab Gupta from near Katra, Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh. He was presented in the court, from where he was sent to jail.
Addressing the media, senior superintendent of police Sunil Kumar Meena said that Kathgodam resident Pandey was shot dead in Haldwani on last Sunday. The police had nabbed one of the murder accused Saurabh Gupta with the victim’s licensed pistol from the crime scene while his brother Gaurav had managed to escape.
Pandey’s widow Vinita Pandey had lodged a case against the accused after which the police formed six teams to search for the main accused.
The teams were sent to different cities in search of Gupta. One of the teams reached Mainpuri where Gupta’s paternal home is situated. The police found his location here through mobile phone surveillance.
The SSP said that it was not tough for the police to trace the main accused. While escaping he had thrown the SIM card from his mobile phone without knowing that even after putting another SIM card in the mobile phone, the SOG would be able to trace his location.
After narrowing his location to Mainpuri, the police reached the area and managed to catch him at the Katra rickshaw stand. Meena said that when the police caught Gaurav, he was carrying his licensed pistol.
He further said that after commiting the crime in Haldwani, Gaurav first reach Bazpur along with his family and from there reached Delhi by taxi.
From there he reached the home of one of his relatives in Mainpuri. During police questioning, the main accused said that during the argument, Pandey had first taken out his licensed gun and pointed it at him.
He claimed that he had shot Pandey in self defence.