Himachal Pradesh: Suspicious of illicit affair with wife, Army man kills driver

DHARAMSHALA: An Army person murdered a taxi driver suspecting him of having an illicit relationship with his wife. It was a blind murder case. The crime was revealed after a month-long investigation by police. The deceased, in this case, was found dead below a bridge on national highway in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh with no vital clue at spot.
The incident took place in broad day light of September 22nd last month.
Police said that driver was shot twice in noon hours and his body was left below the Bathu bridge of Ranital area on the national highway connecting Dharamshala and Delhi.
"Two bullets were shot on back of the deceased with official revolver of .32 bore by killer. But to ensure death, two more bullets were shot on head of the driver. This killing was done in suspicion of illicit affair between accused’s wife and deceased driver" said Vimukt Ranjan, superintendent of police at district police headquarters here.
But whether any such affair actually existed in this case was yet to be investigated.
Hanuman (28), an army person working in artillery section at an army camp of this region, a resident of Haryana has been identified as the accused who has admitted the crime before the police. The weapon used for killing has also been recovered.
Inquires revealed that after the accused got suspicious, he traced out the person who was the deceased driver. It was on September 21 that the killer personally visited the driver and booked his cab for a tour.
Next day the accused contacted the driver but he used the mobile phone of a person who was a typhoid patient.
On September 22, he took the taxi driver to various locations but finally killed him below the bridge at Ranital area", said police.
Detailing the murder scene, top cops told TOI that the accused asked the driver to click some pictures of him on the banks of the rivulet.
"After clicking the pictures, the deceased turned back handing over the mobile phone to the accused. Then Hanuman (killer) shot two bullets on back of the driver. He fell down. Again, he fired two bullets on his head", said police.
The accused cleverly avoided using his phone in this whole incident to call the driver or wife. He was nabbed by the police after the vehicle of deceased was recovered from Alhilal army camp in Kangra district.
"It was raining heavily on that day. Perhaps due to this, killer took the vehicle to his residence. But he could not take it out after that which acted as a vital clue to nab the murderer", said police.