The deceased, Ashwani Sharma, 43, went missing on Friday, the police said today. The body was found behind the CISF camp in the ridge area in the Ghaziabad sururb.

Ghaziabad Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) L Ravi Kumar said the postmortem report has confirmed that Sharma died of strangulation.

According to the police, Sharma stayed in Noida while his family is based in Patiala.

Superintendent of Police (City) Vijay Bhushan said, “We are interrogating the friends he used to stay with.” Bhushan, though, said the police have ruled out robbery as the murder motive: “His watch, rings and wallet were intact when the body was recovered.”

Sharma stayed at GAIL Apartments in Sector-62, Noida, with three others.

Bhushan said, “Sharma went to Shipra mall on Friday evening. He stayed there for 40 minutes and left around 8.30 pm. The CCTV footage showed him entering and leaving the mall.”

Sharma’s wife Tripta Rupal told Newsline over telephone from Patiala that she cannot imagine her husband had any enemies. “He was a polite man and only his roommates can offer clues as to what might have happened,” she said.

Sharma’s family, meanwhile, alleged that Ghaziabad police failed to take prompt action in the case. Vikas Sharma, the victim’s brother-in-law, claims he approached Indirapuram police to lodge a missing complaint on Friday itself, but the police refused to take down a complaint.

Indirapuram Station House Officer Ashutosh Kumar had told Newsline on Friday that Sharma’s relatives came to inquire about his whereabouts that day, not to file a missing person’s report.

But on Monday, the SHO said the missing report was filed on Friday itself.

“As Sharma lived in Sector-62 Noida, we were in touch with the Noida police,” SHO Kumar said, “but they refused to take any responsibility. As we had CCTV footage showing him going out of the mall, we thought he must have gone to Patiala to meet his family.”