Indore murder: 30 in custody but no lead on killers or motive

INDORE: Twenty-four hours after three gunmen shot dead businessman Sandeep Agarwal in the busy Vijay Nagar area, police are no closer to identifying the attackers though they have CCTV footage of them, and found the getaway car abandoned in Talawali Chanda, 9km from the scene of crime.
The car bore registration numbers that belonged to a woman doctor in Bhopal, according to the Madhya Pradesh transport department website.But the number plate was probably forged, DIG Harinarayanchari Mishra said.
Cops round up 30 suspects
The attackers had fled in a white hatchback after firing several shots at Sandeep Agarwal in front of Cross Roads Complex, barely 50m from Vijay Nagar police station.
Police have rounded around 30 suspects who are being interrogated at different locations, say sources. Seven teams of police, along with Crime Branch, cyber cops and Special Task Force (STF) have been roped in to crack the crime. Agarwal, who is known to have been involved in various businesses, including owning a local media channel, has had differences with many of his partners, say police. He was also involved in several high profile land deals.
“During initial investigation, it came to fore that the victim had 11 criminal cases, including that of operating a betting racket, printing ‘fake’ notes and disputes related to properties, registered against him at various police stations of Indore. The victim used to work as moneylender, too,” SP Avdhesh Goswami said.
Investigators believe Agarwal recently entered into a Rs 20 crore deal to buy a local media channel, but it seems to have gone sour, triggering bitterness among partners. Police are yet to ascertain the exact motive behind the murder, but believe that the shooters are ‘outsiders’. “They were not afraid of revealing their identity as they were not covering their faces. They also appeared determined to kill the ‘target’. Two of them maintained a calm demeanour and walked away casually after shooting Agarwal,” Goswami pointed out, adding: “One of the attackers seems to have a leg injury as he was limping .” Police are questioning a known shooter from Ratlam, who walks with a limp. History-sheeters like Manohar Verma and Pintu Thakur are also being grilled.
Agarwal’s autopsy done at MY Hospital. “Three bullets were recovered from the body,” forensic experts said, adding that injury marks indicated that some more bullets went through and through. His last rites were performed at Tilak Nagar crematorium, where police took one person into custody for disturbing peace.