The four accused have been identified as: Ashok Kumar, a resident of Abheypur in Industrial Area; Sanjay Kumar, a resident of Abheypur; Mobin alias Chotu Khan, a resident of Saharanpur (UP) and Sonu, a resident of Hanumangarh. The main accused in the case, Raju, is on the run. His wife and daughter are also missing. The four were arrested by the police from Hanumangarh in Rajasthan and were being brought to Panchkula at the time of filing of the report.

During interrogation, the four told the police that while they had first stabbed Vinod and then thrown his body in a river near Rajpura, Yashan was pushed alive in the river on February 14. Though the police recovered the Santro car of the Mittals from Hanumangarh, the bodies of the two are yet to be recovered.

Panchkula Superintendent of Police Amitabh Dhillon said: “Since Raju’s wife was completely aware of the crime, she is likely to be booked under criminal conspiracy.”

“The accused, after the murders, fled towards Hanumangarh. While the four remained there, Raju along with his wife and daughter went to an undisclosed location. The teams are at work and Raju will be arrested soon. The four, meanwhile, have confessed to the murder and special teams have been sent to Rajpura along with the family members of Mittals to locate their bodies.” A case under section 365 and 302 of IPC has been registered against the accused.

The family
Vinod’s father Ved Prakash said: “Had the police acted in time, rather than fighting over the jurisdiction issue, my son and grandson could have been saved. The Panchkula police registered a case only after 72 hours of the incident.”

The ‘reason’
“Vinod had allegedly got one of Raju’s flats registered in his wife’s name. Moreover, Vinod had financed a car for Raju but was continously asking for the money. This apparently led Raju to plan Vinod’s murder,” a police officer said, requesting anonymity.

The ‘planning’
Sources said Raju had been planning the murder for the past many days. On February 14, he met his four friends at Vatika Park in Sector 5 where they consumed liquor and planned the murder. They even purchased sharp-edged weapons later.

The plot
Vinod reached Raju’s residence in Baltana around 8.30 pm on February 14. Here, Raju introduced him to his four friends and assured to return his money. On this pretext, the five sat in his Santro car and stabbed him several times in Baltana itself. Later, they drove the car towards Rajpura and threw the body in a river. Yashan, sources said, started crying and requested the assailants to not beat him up. The five then threw him alive in the river fearing that the child had seen everything.

How did the police reach the accused
Police detained Raju’s mother-in-law from Vadodara (Gujrat) and questioned her. She revealed that she was present at Raju’s house on February 14. She also revealed the identity of the accused and their locations.

Murder for money
* While Ashok and Mobin were good friends of Raju, Sanjay used to work in Chandigarh. DSP Ram Chander Rathi said: “The four said Raju promised them good money if they helped him execute the crime.”
* Despite the fact that Sushma kept requesting the Mohali and Panchkula police to arrest or detain Shilpa, the wife of Raju, the police failed to act, resulting in her escape