Ghaziabad: Law student was choked with a rope, post-mortem shows

A missing persons complaint had been registered by Pankaj’s family at Sahibabad police station Saturday, after his disappearance on October 8. “We started investigating the area where he was last spotted. We found that his previous landlord and his family had left home the day after the complaint was filed, which seemed suspicious. We scanned the house and found fresh plaster in the basement. We dug it up and found Singh’s body,” said Mishra. Munna lived in the same building with his wife and four children, but left for Bihar after Pankaj’s disappearance.

Police said the accused allegedly made every effort to ensure the body is not discovered by a neighbour. An officer said he allegedly sprayed perfume or deodorant to make sure there wasn’t any odour.

After accessing his call detail records, police have found that Pankaj was in touch with Munna’s children. Police said he gave tuition to them and they helped look after his cafe when he would attend college.

Pankaj, a fourth-year law student at IME Ghaziabad, stayed as a tenant at Munna’s residence for 15 days, before shifting to another accommodation in Girdhar Enclave.