Friend nabbed in UP revenue officer's abduction, killing

Bareilly, Dec 16 (PTI) A revenue officer whose decomposed body was found here in the Cantonment area was killed for Rs 4 lakh by people known to him, a police officer said on Monday.

Manish Kashyap, 45, who was abducted on November 27 was found dead in a decomposed state on Sunday near a drain in Babhiya village.

Omveer alias Awadhesh and his relative Nanhe Kashyap confessed to police that he and his associates had abducted Manish for a ransom of Rs 4 lakh, Senior Superintendent of Police Anurag Arya said.

A DNA test of the body will be done to establish the identity of the body.

Manish was known to Omveer, who had called him to have liquor with him and picked him in his car. The car has been seized.

Omveer was recently released from jail and was short of money.

"He has two wives. One of them lives in Bareilly and the other in Noida. Due to a money crunch, he hatched a plan to kidnap Manish but later killed him out of fear of getting caught. Police have also located two audio recordings in his mobile," the officer said.

Arya said Manish was killed the same night he was abducted and his body was thrown into the drain.

"It was not visible to passersby because of the hyacinth in the water. Later, jackals and animals ate the body leaving only the skull and other parts," the officer said.

Two others involved in the incident, Suraj and Netrapal, are absconding and will be nabbed soon, the SSP said.

Posted as a revenue officer in Faridpur tehsil, Kashyap went missing on November 27 after he left home.

His mother, Morakali, filed a police complaint, accusing a local representative from Khallpur village and his associates of abducting her son.

An FIR was registered at the Faridpur Police Station on the orders of Additional Director General of Police (ADG), Bareilly Zone, Ramit Sharma.

It was earlier speculated that Manish was killed in a land measurement dispute in Kapoorpur village.

Manish was overseeing the measuring of a piece of land when he was accused of favouring the opposing party.

Samajwadi party president Akhilesh Yadav earlier in a post on X accused the state government of patronising the land mafia. PTI COR ABN ABN VN VN