Ghaziabad jeweller’s murder case transferred to STF

GHAZIABAD - Four days after a prominent city jeweller was kidnapped and murdered, the Uttar Pradesh police Wednesday assigned the case investigation to its Special Task Force (STF).

“After the local police could not make any breakthrough, it decided to seek assistance from the STF,” Avdesh Kumar Vijaita, Ghaziabad (city) superintendent of police, told IANS.

Atul Goel, 42, was murdered by three persons Oct 23, after they stopped his car forced their way into it in Kavi Nagar area of the district.

Goel’s pistol and two mobile phones were found in the car. The vehicle’s broken windows suggested that Goel had resisted the abduction, and was shot dead in the process, police said.

Police Sunday examined his phone calls for the month, and tracked various purchases Goel made prior to the launch of his fifth jewellery showroom.

The local jewellery market was shut Sunday in protest, and the traders’ organisation, Samyukta Vyapar Mandal, staged a sit-in at Chopla Mandir. The sit-in continues.

“The traders are under constant fear. Several extortion complaints are pending, and the police are doing nothing,” Shiv Shankar Rathi, leader of the traders’ association, said.