46-year-old man murdered in Surat, two arrested

Indian Express

04-08-2025

A day after two people were arrested for allegedly murdering a 46-year-old Rajasthan native, the police on Monday produced the two accused before the court, which sent them to police remand till August 7. A third accused in the case is still absconding, said police.
The Limbayat Police identified the victim as Alok Agrawal, who was formerly working as a broker in the textile trading business in Surat.
The accused identified as Uttar Pradesh resident Dipak Kumar Singh (35) and Odisha-based Bhagwan Swai (25), residing in Surat city, were arrested on Sunday, said police.
According to police, three persons allegedly waylaid victim Alok Agrawal on Saturday night near Vatika Shopping Complex in Surat's Parvat Patia area, and attacked him repeatedly with knives, leading to his on spot death.
On Sunday, the victim's elder brother, Ajay Agrawal, filed a complaint with the Limbayat police station, said sources. Later in the day, the police arrested the two accused.
A couple of hours after their arrest, the police took both of the accused to the alleged murder spot for the reconstruction of the crime. As the news of the police arrival spread, thousands of people from the Rajasthani community, staying in Surat, gathered on the spot.
A few BJP party workers and local corporator Vijay Chaumal also accompanied the agitating people.
Chaumal said, 'Action should be taken against criminals in Surat and the whole of Gujarat on the lines of Uttar Pradesh. The accused killed a Rajasthani youth in a public area, they should be shot dead by police.'
The BJP councillor also allegedly tried to snatch a stick from Police Inspector N K Kamaliya in a bid to hit the murder accused, when the crime reconstruction was in progress, but was stopped before the situation could go out of hand, said police sources.
Chaumal while addressing the mediapersons, on the sidelines of the spot, said, 'A strict message should be given to the murder accused…they should be gunned down by the Surat police in front of the public… There should be tit for tat, so that in future nobody would dare to commit such a crime.'
Chaumal, who hails from Rajasthan and is settled in Surat, told The Indian Express, 'The victim Alok Agrawal hailed from Rajasthan and had been residing in Surat's Parvat Patia area for a long time. He was brutally murdered by the accused. Police arrested two accused, however, one person is still absconding. We want strict actions to be taken against the accused.'
Meanwhile, sources said that a few days ago, the State Monitoring Cell had conducted raids in the EWS Awas area of Bhestan locality, during which a gambling ring was busted and cash worth lakhs was seized.
According to sources, Alok had allegedly tipped-off the State Monitoring Cell personnel about the gambling activities. Limbayat Police Inspector N K Kamaliya said,'As per the initial probe, we got to know that Alok, who earlier worked as a textile broker, was involved in a dispute with one Ashfak Kawa of Kosad area in Surat. Around 15 days ago, a quarrel took place between Alok and Ashfak in Kosad. Nursing a grudge against Alok, Ashfak allegedly ordered his henchman to eliminate the former. Ashfak has gone underground and a police team is looking for him.'
Kamaliya added, 'Apart from Dipak Kumar Singh and Swai Bhagwan, a third accused, Abrar Lassi, was also involved in Alok Agrawal's murder. They attacked the victim with knives. His body bore 50 injury marks. We have arrested the two accused while the third one is on the run. A manhunt has been launched to arrest him as well. Probe into the matter is underway.'
On Monday, police presented both the accused before the Surat district court. Police had sought seven days of remand. After hearing arguments from defence and prosecution, the court granted police remand of both the accused for three days, till August 7.