Bhilai, Feb 06, 2019: With the arrest of four ruffians, police claimed to have solved the missing case of jewelry shop owner Hariprasad Dewangan. The 82-year-old man was abducted and murdered with the sole purpose of loot. The accused abducted the old man, strangled him to death and consigned his body to flames. The accused them attempted loot at the old man’s shop in Patan. Home Minister Tamradhwaj Sahu has appreciated the police team for solving this blind case. Director General of Police has announced cash reward for the investigation team.
Addressing media persons here at Police Control Room on Wednesday, IGP (Durg Range) Ratan Lal Dangi and SP (Durg) Prakhar Pandey informed that a special team of 150 officers / personnel was pressed into service for solving this blind case. Footages of about 80 CCTV cameras were examined and owners of about 773 vehicles were checked during investigation. But the traditional network of informers and tipoff mechanism finally made the police team reach the culprits.
It needs to be mentioned here that Hariparasad Dewangan, a resident of Tanki Maroda, Newai was missing since January 18. He owned a jewelry shop in Azad Square of Patan. He used to travel on bicycle from home to reach Maroda Bus Stand; then travel to Patan in bus and from Patan Bus Stand he used to travel on bicycle to his shop. In the same manner he used to return back home daily.
On January 18 when he did not reach home, his son Anant Dewangan lodged a complaint at Newai Police Station. Police team immediately swung into action and gathered information from all possible sources. Police team came to know that Hariprasad had travelled back to Maroda Bus Stand and his picked his bicycle too. On the way to home, he was dashed by some unknown car and the people travelling in the car had taken the old man with him. The eye witness of this incident described the type of car and also informed police about the appearance of the people who were travelling in the car. Later, police came to know that theft has occurred at Dewangan’s shop in Patan. The unknown thieves had used the keys of the shutter lock to commit theft.
On the basis of above inputs, it was evident that the old man has been abducted and his keys were used to commit theft. Considering the seriousness of the matter, a team of 45 cops including cyber experts camped at Patan to investigate in all directions. 137 bus operators and conductors were quizzed and 81 people who had business relations with him.
During investigation of another theft which occurred at village Funda, Police team rounded up four suspects including a juvenile. During investigation police found that the suspects had links with the Dewangan missing case. When quizzed strictly, the suspects confessed involvement in the Dewangan case. Four ruffians identified as Sanju Vaishnav (23) son of Dileshwar Vaishnav; Akash Kosre (18) son of Chandrahaas Kosre; Suryakant Sahu (18) son of Khelan Sahu and a juvenile, all residents of village Daimaar (Patan) were taken in custody. They confessed to have used their rented Mahindra KUV car for committing thefts at about 20 places.
The accused confessed that they had abducted Dewangan with the aim of loot and theft at his shop. As two of the accused were known to Dewangan, they decided to kill him and eliminate evidences against them. The accused took the body to Patan and later set it ablaze in the heap of hay at village Sonpur. The accused used to keys of the shop to commit theft.
Police recreated the crime scene and recovered some belongings of the deceased from the outskirts of village Sonpur where the body was set on fire. Ash remains of the body were also preserved from the spot. After committing the crime, the prime accused visited Amarkantak and got his head shaved to change his appearance.