Ex-councillor arrested for murder of missing Punhana doctor

A 60-year-old doctor, who was operating a nursing home at Punhana in Nuh district, was allegedly murdered by his friend, along with his an accomplice, over money and his body was thrown into the Ganga in Haridwar. The police have arrested the main accused, who has reportedly confessed to the crime. The body has not been found yet.

Thick friends, he had taken several lakhs from the victim, who was demanding the money back

According to the police, the victim has been identified as Dr Vinod Goyal of Goyal Nursing Home, and the accused has been identified as Deepak Rajasthani (42), a former councillor and owner of a utensils shop. He was produced in a local court today and sent to police remand for a week.

A senior investigating officer said the doctor went missing on August 28. The accused dumped the body in the river to make it look like suicide. The same day, the compounder, Mahendra, received a message from the doctor’s mobile that he was going out for 15 days and not to tell anyone.

The hospital staff and his family did not worry about it, but when there was no contact for five-six days, they contacted the doctor's brother, Devendra Goyal, who filed a missing persons complaint on September 3.

During investigation, the police traced the doctor's location and call details, which revealed a long conversation between Dr Goyal and Rajasthani. The police took him into custody on September 5 to question him, and finally, he confessed to the murder.

Rajasthani and the doctor had been friends for about 15 years and were often seen together. There was a transaction of lakhs of rupees between them. According to the doctor's brother, Rajasthani owed Dr Goyal Rs 40-45 lakh, which he had been demanding for long.

“Rajasthani confessed that he had strangled the doctor with a rope in his car on August 28. He and his accomplice then took the body to Haridwar and threw it in the Ganga,” said a senior police officer.

On Saturday, a large number of people, along with MLA Mohammad Ilyas and former MLA Naseem Ahmed, reached the police station and asked the police to recover the body as soon as possible.

“The accused is saying that he had taken Rs 23 lakh, while Dr Goyal's brother has said it was Rs 40-45 lakh. We are investigating all angles,” said Rajesh Kumar, SHO of Punhana City police station.