Another key accused in Loni dairy farm owner’s murder held after gunfight

Ghaziabad: Gaurav, one of the key accused in the murder of a dairy farm owner in Loni, was arrested on Saturday after a brief gunfight with police, during which he suffered a bullet injury to his leg.An unregistered motorcycle and an illegal firearm were recovered from his possession. The arrest came a day after another key accused, Mohit was sent to jail. With Gaurav’s arrest, the total number of arrests in the case has risen to 26. Three other key accused are absconding and rewards of Rs 50,000 have been declared for information leading to their arrests. Apart from Gaurav and Mohit, the 24 others arrested are relatives who have sheltered the five main accused.The deceased’s body, which was dumped in a canal near Baghpat, has not been recovered yet.On the morning of May 30, five youths, including Mohit and Gaurav, from Loni’s Ganauli village had shot the dairy farm owner, Omkar, while he was going to collect fodder. They had subsequently loaded the body into their car and fled from the scene.According to police, Gaurav admitted to the crime during interrogation. He said after bundling Omkar’s body into the car, they had driven around, looking for a place to dispose of it.He also confirmed that the plan to kill him stemmed from a road rage incident between his friend and Omkar’s son, Devansh. Devansh had filed a complaint with the Loni police station regarding the matter. However, when the panchayat was trying to mediate between them, Omkar slapped Gaurav’s friend and his father. As a revenge, the five planned to kill him.Gaurav said after shooting him, they threw Omkar’s body into the Ganganahar canal near the Pooth Khas bridge in Meerut’s Rohta area.Despite extensive search operations over the past eight days, the body has not yet been recovered. Police teams are continuing the search in canal stretches across Meerut and Baghpat districts. Investigators believe the latest arrests may help pinpoint the exact location where the body was disposed of.