A loan recovery agent was allegedly murdered, and his body recovered from a residential flat in Jharkhand’s Dhanbad, police said on Sunday. The victim, identified as Amit Kumar Agarwal, was reported missing by his family. His body was found inside a flat belonging to a man named Vikas Khandelwal at Surya Highland Society in Dhanbad’s Sadar area.
Police said that Vikas Khandelwal was arrested and confessed to the crime during interrogation.
Acting on technical surveillance and mobile phone location data, the police detained Khandelwal and questioned him, following which the body was recovered based on the information provided by the accused.
After recovery, the body was taken into custody and sent for post-mortem examination to Shaheed Nirmal Mahto Memorial Medical College Hospital, police confirmed.
DSP (Law and Order) Naushad Alam said the murder was linked to a financial dispute.
“Preliminary investigation suggests that there was an ongoing dispute between the accused and the deceased over a loan settlement amounting to nearly Rs 1 crore. This dispute appears to be the motive behind the killing,” he said.
The case came to light after the family of Amit Agarwal lodged a missing person complaint.
According to the complaint, ransom calls demanding Rs 15 lakh were being made using Amit’s mobile phone after he went missing.
Based on technical evidence and call details, the police traced the mobile phone location, which led them to the accused.
Police said further investigation is underway to ascertain the sequence of events, the role of any other persons, and to verify the ransom angle. “All aspects of the case are being thoroughly examined,” an officer said.
