Gangster held for murdering Noida techie

New Delhi: In a major breakthrough in the sensational murder case of techie Ankit Chauhan, the CBI on Saturday arrested gangster Satpal Bhati, who was under judicial custody, in connection with the case. Sources said that the dreaded gangster allegedly hatched conspiracy to snatch the car of 27-year-old software engineer from inside the prison.

Sources said, “The CBI is now interrogating Bhati after obtaining permission from the competent court”. The agency has already recovered the weapon of offence and vehicle used in the murder of Ankit.

The Uttar Pradesh special task force (STF), which earlier investigated the case, had arrested total four persons in connection with the case. Ankit was murdered on a busy stretch in Noida’s Sector-76 on April 13, 2015 when he was returning after meeting his wife, who is also a software engineer. The two had been married for just 34 days before his death.

“The agency recently recovered two revolvers used in the killing of Ankit. Besides, the agency has also taken possession of the car and fake number plate used in committing the crime by the accused from the STF”. The STF last month arrested two people — Shashank Jadon and Manoj Kumar — in connection with the case. The CBI will soon record their statements also. “Shashank, son of a railway employee, had scored 94 in Class 12. After graduation, He started working as a real estate broker. The other accused, Manoj, is a mechanic and is driving a taxi,” sources said. Investigation by the agency has revealed that Ankit was killed for resisting a loot bid, they added.

Sources said the accused wanted to loot the Ankit’s car but could not do so as a crowd had gathered on hearing the gun-shot. In June last year, Allahabad high court had transferred the case to the CBI after Noida police failed to crack the case even after one year. The move had come after Ankit’s father, Dharamveer Chauhan, filed a criminal writ petition demanding that the probe be handed over to the CBI.

Later, the CBI had announced Rs 5 lakh reward for anyone who helps it solve the case. At the time of the murder, Ankit had been with his cousin Gagan when the assailants first overtook his SUV and fired at the windscreen. One of the assailants then got out of the car, shot Ankit in the neck, and sped away. He was taken to a nearest hospital, but was declared brought dead.