His Blood on His Own Hands: The Rajasthan Man Who Paid to be Murdered

Bhilwara: An unidentified body and a startling motive, the murder story that unfolded in Rajasthan's Bhilwara is the perfect fodder for a thriller.

Last week, an unidentified body of a middle-aged man was recovered by a police patrolling party near Guvaradi police station in Bhilwara. The deceased’s hand and legs were tied.

After further investigation, the police identified the dead person as Balbir Singh Kharol, 38. The police investigation revealed that Kharol was a local moneylender and further found he had been under heavy debt. After tracing phone calls the deceased made in the week before his murder, the police managed to zero-in on two suspects — Sunil Yadav and Rajveer Naik, both from Uttar Pradesh.

During their interrogation, the two admitted to having killed Kharol. However, it was the motive of their crime that really surprised the cops.

The suspects told the police they had been hired by none other than the deceased. Superintendent of Police Bhilwara Harendra Mahawar in a statement to the media explained that Kharol had borrowed a sum of Rs 20 lakh, which he then lent out to several people. The borrowers were, however, unable to repay the interest and the principal amount.

"This is very unusual thing, but this is what the murder accused have revealed," Mahawar said.

With pressuring mounting, Kharol then planned his own murder. But before the deed was done, he bought an insurance policy of Rs 50 lakh for which he even paid a premium of Rs 8,000. Following this, he hired two killers for a sum of Rs 80,000 and gave them an advance of Rs 5,000, which was deposited into their accounts.

As per the plan, on September 2, Kharol made an advance payment of Rs 10,000 to the two men and went with them to an isolated place. He told them that he had kept rest of the amount in his pocket, which they can take after murdering him, the officer said.

When they reached the decided place in Mangrop area, Yadav tied Kharol's hands and legs with a rope and later Singh strangled him, Mahawar said. He said the accused were arrested on the basis of Kharol's call details and a CCTV footage.

Kharol is survived by his wife, children and parents.