The Hindu : New Delhi News : Three held for murder of taxi driver

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New Delhi

Three held for murder of taxi driver

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: Three persons have been arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police for allegedly killing a taxi driver after robbing him of cash and other valuables.

The accused -- Praveen Walia (19), Sunil Kumar (23) and Vipin Kumar (31) -- were arrested on charges of killing Upender Anand alias Sonu whose body was found at Rajpura in Uttarakhand on January 9. The police claim to have recovered three credit cards, one gold ring, a silver ring and a wallet of the deceased from the accused.

Taxi hired

According to the police, some young men hired a taxi from Pawan Hans Tours and Travels on January 7 to go to Dehra Dun and Mussoorie. The next day another taxi driver of the same company spotted the vehicle on the way to Agra.

When he inquired, he was told by a man – later identified as Vipin – that Upender had gone to get a flat tyre repaired. The driver then alerted the travel agency owner.

Realising that something was amiss as the vehicle was supposed to be in Dehra Dun and not on the Agra route, the owner informed the police.

On January 9, Upender’s body was found at Rajpura in Uttarakhand, while the vehicle was found abandoned at Morena in Madhya Pradesh.

Fake addresses

Investigations revealed that the hirers had given fake addresses and defunct mobile numbers. Following various leads, the police zeroed in on the suspects and arrested them.

During interrogation, the accused allegedly disclosed that they wanted to make easy money by selling off the taxi after killing the driver. They killed Upender in Rajpura and then drove the vehicle towards Agra. The police said they tried to sell the taxi in Gwalior but failed to clinch a deal and later abandoned the vehicle at Morena suspecting that the police had come to know about the missing taxi.

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