Indian man held for murder to plot own death

AN man in India has been arrested for trying to fake his death by murdering a builder and passing the body off as his own, police on Monday (13) said.

According to the sources in the police, the arrested, identified as Sudesh Kumar, did it to avoid being tried of another alleged murder, AFP reported.

Kumar was charged with but not convicted of the killing of his daughter, who had eloped, in 2018, the report added.

He was released last year as authorities tried to prevent coronavirus outbreaks by reducing occupants in overcrowded prisons.

In November, police found a body in Ghaziabad in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and near New Delhi which was wearing Kumar’s clothes and carried his identity card.

“The body was partially burnt and its face was beyond recognition,” police superintendent Iraj Raja told AFP.

“We traced it back to (Kumar’s) home and got his wife to identify the body. She promptly identified it as his husband’s body. However, we were not convinced,” he added.

The cops got a tip-off that Kumar was still alive and caught him outside his residence on Friday (10). He confessed after the police interrogated him.

“Upon being interrogated, he spilled the beans,” Raja said.

It was reported that Kumar had befriended a mason and invited him to his house in the pretext of some repair work. He then gave the person a set of clothes to wear and made him drink much alcohol before thrashing him to death.

The police said both Kumar and his wife have been charged with murder.