NEW DELHI: The alleged killers played a high-stakes game of shadows to bury their trail and then employed every trick in the book to lead investigators down a blind alley.
However, the sleuths proved to be more than their equal — patiently stitching together National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) data and a maze of footage from CCTVs at Yamuna Expressway toll plazas and multiple locations across Delhi to unearth a trail of betrayal.
At 2.40 pm on Feb 18, Anroop Gupta had left his residence at Radhika Apartments in Dwarka Sector 14 in his car for the canteen he ran at Chhattisgarh Sadan in Sector 13. Several hours later, at 9.40 pm, he reportedly sent a voice note to a friend, asking him to visit the canteen. While Gupta's earlier texts were in Hindi, responses were limited to a brief "ok" following the voice note.
Four days later, at 3.12 pm on Feb 22, a social media story purportedly showing Gupta in Goa was posted from his account. However, friends and family noticed a facial mole in his photo they knew had been removed earlier. They smelled a rat, approached police and filed a missing person complaint.
Cops swung into action. They obtained data from NHAI and found Gupta's car was last seen on the intervening night of Feb 19 and 20 on the expressway. CCTV footage at toll plazas revealed it went towards Vrindavan and was headed back for Noida after a few hours.
Simultaneously, police checked CCTV footage at Chhattisgarh Sadan and found Gupta taking a bike taxi. Technical probe and CDR analysis helped police trace the rider, who confirmed that the businessman had indeed taken it to a house in Matiala Extension after leaving his car at the Sadan.
Cops checked CCTV footage at Matiala and saw Gupta entering the building. He, though, was not seen coming out. Four others also entered the building after him. Later, they were seen using a scooter.
The sleuths pored over more footage and saw Gupta's car entering the basement of the Matiala building on Feb 19. They later established that he had told his friend, Happy (29), and four of his aides that his gold rings and bracelet were inside the car, which had been parked at the Sadan.
The five allegedly forced him to hand over the keys, drove the car to Matiala, retrieved the jewellery and returned to the flat. The car was again seen coming out of the building and heading towards Vrindavan.
Meanwhile, the ownership details of the scooter were obtained and it was found to be registered in the name of Happy, a resident of Hansi, Haryana. Things started falling in place from this moment. Happy was nabbed and told police that he, along with Bhupender, Balram, Neeraj and Rakhi, had murdered Gupta. Police identified Bhupender as a 27-year-old native of Sonipat district in Haryana, Rakhi as Happy's 21-year-old live-in partner from Deoria in Uttar Pradesh and Balram as a 28-year-old from Jhajjar, Haryana. None of them have previous criminal records.
Bhupender was apprehended from Inderlok, Rakhi from Hansi in Haryana, and Balram from Jhajjar. Neeraj is absconding. A case has been registered at Bindapur police station.
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Khushi Bhuta is a reporter based in New Delhi. She has prior repo...
Read MoreKhushi Bhuta is a reporter based in New Delhi. She has prior reporting experience in her hometown Mumbai along with Chennai and Pune. She focuses closely on urban ground realities, particularly issues around crime and public safety. Her work revolves around lived experiences and the everyday impact of city systems.
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