The police in Jharkhand’s Dhanbad district have arrested a man on Friday on charges of allegedly orchestrating his father’s murder in a bid to secure his government job at the Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) under the company’s compassionate appointment policy, officials reported. According to police, the accused hired two hitmen (contract killers) to get his father killed, and all the accused have been arrested. 

Victim identified as Tuleshwar Nonia

Officials familiar with the case said that the man who was murdered has been identified as Tuleshwar Nonia, a BCCL employee in Dhanbad’s Barora. His body was found on June 19. Dhanbad Rural Superintendent of Police (SP) S Mohammed Yakub said Nonia was yet to serve two more years at the company before getting retired. 

According to police, Nonia’s son, Vijay Chauhan believed that his father’s death during his tenure would make him eligible for employment at the colliery on compassionate grounds. 

Cops allege Chauhan hired hitmen, gave contract of Rs 10L

The investigating police personnel said Chauhan hatched a conspiracy to get his father killed, and enlisted the help of two men named Amit Singh and Akhilesh Mallah for the same. The cops alleged that Chauhan promised the duo to give them Rs 10 lakh to kill his father, although he did not make any advance payments. 

To evade suspicion, Chauhan allegedly created an alibi by informing his father that he was travelling to Bihar’s Aurangabad to attend a relative’s wedding. He left home on the morning of June 19. 

Later that night, after Nonia was done with his shift, Singh and Mallah allegedly offered him a lift on their bike. Police claim they took him to a secluded area, where they attacked him with a large stone.

Murder staged as road accident

The conspiracy refused to subside even here, as the accused attempted to pass off the murder as an accident. They mutilated Nonia’s face and dragged the body onto a nearby road to stage the death as the result of a road accident. 

The alleged plot, however, began to unravel after the cops scanned CCTV footage from BCCL’s surveillance system at the AMP Colliery. In the footage, Nonia was spotted on the bike possessed by Singh and Mallah. SP Yakub said, “Acting on this lead, the cops detained both the killers and subjected them to sustained interrogation, eventually blowing the lid off the conspiracy.”

Mallah carries previous criminal history

As per police, Mallah has a criminal record and had earlier served a jail term in connection with coal and diesel theft cases registered at Madhuban Police Station. Following the duo’s confession, the police arrested Nonia’s son and key accused Chauhan too. 

The trio shall be produced before a court, the police said.