19-year-old Mohammad Maz Pathan murdered 16-year-old Vaibhav Singhal in Uttar Pradesh’s Greater Noida and disposed of his body in the Khareli canal. He killed the victim after the two got into an argument over photographs of a female. The cops have taken him into custody following a gunfight in Dankaur area. A 15-year-old juvenile was the accomplice of Pathan in the murder.
Vaibhav Singhal, a resident of Bilaspur in the Dankaur neighbourhood of Greater Noida reportedly disappeared from his house on 29th January this year.
His father Aruj Singhal who is a trader registered a complaint after family members were unable to locate Vaibhav despite their best efforts. After a week of initiatives, authorities failed to obtain any information regarding him. His phone was then placed under surveillance by them after which they came to know about two other youngsters. Shockingly, Vaibhav Singhal was assassinated by these two together. Afterwards, the duo dumped the corpse in the canal.
The complainant stated, “On January 30, my son left home around 7 pm without informing anyone. Despite calling him repeatedly and searching for him, we were unable to find him.” A First Information Report was filed at the Dankaur police station against unidentified suspects under the Indian Penal Code’s provisions on kidnapping in response to the complaint.
According to the police inquiry, Maz Pathan, the primary accused was previously acquainted with the deceased. A disagreement arose between him and Vaibhav Singhal concerning pictures of a girl on Vaibhav’s phone that Maz Pathan considered to be his girlfriend. He was pressuring Vaibhav to delete the photo, however, the victim refused after which the culprit invited him to a place where he committed the crime along with his minor associate and got rid of the body.
The police caught the duo after an encounter and revealed that they had received electronic surveillance as well as confidential information about the presence of the offenders somewhere on the Dhanauri to Sakka road in Noida. The cops observed two young people approaching on a bike as they continued down the route and when the former attempted to halt them, the pair began to flee towards a field and one of them opened fire.
During the confrontation, police retaliated and arrested them. The incident resulted in Maz Pathan being shot in the leg. Furthermore, the phone that belonged to the late Vaibhav Singhal has been found in his possession along with a pistol. Both have admitted to strangling the boy to death. Maz Pathan revealed that they ended the life of Vaibhav Singhal on 30th January, during interrogation. The police are currently trying to recover the dead body.
According to SM Khan, the deputy commissioner of police (DCP) for Greater Noida, authorities were tipped off that the victim’s associates were involved in his disappearance. He proclaimed, “On the basis of manual surveillance and intelligence, a local police team identified the suspects as 19-year-old Maz Pathan, a resident of Bilaspur, and a minor boy, whose name is being withheld to protect his identity. They were spotted near Sakka village and when asked to stop, but they tried to run and Maz fired at the police. In retaliation, he was shot in the leg by the personnel and taken into custody. The minor suspect was also nabbed.”
थाना दनकौर पुलिस और हत्या में वांछित अभियुक्त के बीच हुई मुठभेड़ में अभियुक्त माज पठान गोली लगने से घायल/गिरफ्तार व बाल अपचारी कांबिंग के दौरान गिरफ्तार, कब्जे से अवैध हथियार तथा मृतक किशोर का मोबाइल फोन बरामद।
— POLICE COMMISSIONERATE GAUTAM BUDDH NAGAR (@noidapolice) February 7, 2024
उक्त संबंध में एडीसीपी ग्रेटर नोएडा द्वारा दी गई बाइट। @Uppolice https://t.co/tHdUL34o9F pic.twitter.com/HcGXIKlbNa
Additional DCP of Greater Noida Ashok Kumar divulged that Maz Pathan and Vaibhav Singhal had been at odds for several days and conveyed, “The juvenile managed to escape but was later held during a combing operation. The victim’s phone was recovered from his possession. During the investigation, the two confessed to killing him by strangulating him and then dumping his body into the Khareli canal.”
He added, “Divers are searching the canal for the body. Vaibhav Singhal’s iPhone was recovered from the suspects, along with a countrymade gun. Maz has been admitted to a hospital for treatment while the minor suspect will be produced before the Juvenile Justice Board.”
