Nearly 48 hours after the case of alleged kidnapping-cum-murder of one Zia-ud-din was reported here, the body of a city jeweller was found on the roadside in the Saini police station area of Kaushambi district on Tuesday. Even as the family of Sanjeev Tandon (43) alleged that he had been kidnapped on Sunday, the Kanpur police ruled out the possibility of kidnapping saying the jeweller was murdered owing to a personal rivalry.

“Around 9 am on Sunday, a person unknown to me came to our residence to meet Tandon. My husband said that he was going out with him and would return in 10 minutes,” said Tandon’s wife, Seema.

When Tandon did not return till late in the evening, the family intimated the local police. “We tried calling him on his mobile, but he did not receive our calls,” Seema said. The family is yet to receive a ransom call, she added.

Initially, a case of missing person was registered at the Kidwai Nagar police station. But after Tandon did not return home, the case was converted to kidnapping on Monday.

A police team led by Kidwai Nagar Station Officer Alok Mani Tripathi, along with Tandon’s relative Rajesh, rushed to Kaushambi where his body was identified. The tag of the tailor on Tandon’s trousers helped the Kaushambi police ascertain his identity.

DIG, Kanpur, B P Jogdand, meanwhile, denied the family’s claims that Tandon had been kidnapped. “Prima facie it appears that Tandon was murdered due to a personal rivalry. On Sunday morning, he left the house with a person known to him, but he did not return ever since,” said the DIG.

... contd.