LUCKNOW The driver of murdered Unnao-based realtor Dhirendra Pratap Singh, 45, allegedly orchestrated a cover-up by using the victim’s mobile phone to send misleading text messages to his wife, police investigations have revealed. The accused, Ravi Tiwari, allegedly attempted to create the illusion that the realtor was alive and delayed at a mall.
Tiwari allegedly subsequently sent another message from the victim’s phone telling his wife that Dhirendra had called her to a mall near Ekana Stadium. However, she became suspicious when Dhirendra repeatedly failed to answer her calls, after which she informed the police. The sequence of events proved crucial to the investigation. Police took Tiwari along while searching for Dhirendra at the mall, and investigators subsequently began examining his movements and the messages sent from the victim’s phone. His role was to take Dhirendra out of his house on the pretext of meeting some people from Unnao over a land deal. The opportunity allegedly came when Dhirendra’s two security personnel were on leave.
Police said Tiwari had conducted more than 10 reconnaissance trips with Omkar and the alleged shooters, covering Dhirendra’s house and the routes that were allegedly part of the murder plan. Meanwhile, police have declared a ₹ 25,000 reward on Ravi Tiwari’s brother Jai Kishan Tiwari, who investigators allege was part of the wider conspiracy to eliminate Dhirendra. The accused allegedly planned to place Dhirendra’s phone on a moving train so that its location would keep changing, misleading investigators into believing that he was travelling, according to police.
Police said Tiwari had allegedly planned Dhirendra’s murder months in advance with his associates. “Tiwari is co-accused and one of the prime conspirators in the case and is absconding since the murder,” the DCP added.
The realtor was allegedly abducted and murdered in Lucknow, with police suspecting a dispute involving land in Unnao as a possible motive. He was suspected to have been shot in the leg and head inside his SUV before his body was allegedly dumped in the canal. The body was recovered from a canal near Dubagga on Sunday, more than 22 km from the place where he was allegedly abducted.
