A maternal cousin of the Ghaziabad-based manager of Muthoot Finance Limited is among two persons held for allegedly killing him four months ago, the Noida Police said on Tuesday.
The killing resulted from a failed conspiracy of robbing the company's gold from its vault in its Ghaziabad branch, it said.
"Aazaad's body with bullet injuries was found near a culvert in Badalpur police station area on June 20. It was a blind murder case and investigation was taken up leading to the arrest of two accused now," Senior Superintendent of Police, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Vaibhav Krishna said.
Those held have been identified as Parwinder, Aazaad's cousin and key accused, and Chamanlal Kashyap, while two others Sunil and Deepak -- part of the conspiracy are absconding , he told reporters.
The SSP said that Parwinder owed Rs 10,000 to Aazaad, who had been asking for repayment frequently.
"On the night of June 20, Parwinder met Aazaad and told him to accompany him to Kalwa village near Greater Noida where he would repay him the money. They were on Aazaad's motorcycle and stopped midway for drinks where three other accused joined them," Krishna said.
More From This Section
At this point, Parwinder took the keys of Aazaad's branch office and passed it to Sunil, Chamanlal and Deepak who left the two drinking in an SUV for Ghaziabad, he said, adding that the trio could not open the lock of the gold vault and returned in a couple of hours.
"When they returned, Aazaad grew furious about them sneaking away with the key and said he would report the matter to the police. He was then shot dead by the accused and his body dumped near the culvert, Krishna said.
Parwinder and Chamanlal, the two key accused, were held during a checking by the police on Monday night in Badalpur area when Aazaad's voter identity card and some other documents were found from their possession, the officer said.
The duo have been booked for the murder and sent to jail while search is on for their absconding partners, he added.