Bopal police arrest main accused in construction site murder within 24 hours

The Bopal police have arrested the prime accused in the murder of a 22-year-old labourer at a construction site near Splendora-2, close to the Bopal Swaminarayan Temple in Ahmedabad, within hours of the crime. The accused, identified as Naresh alias Naresh Nao (24), was tracked down to Rajasthan late Thursday evening and brought back to the city for questioning.

According to police, the incident stemmed from a quarrel that broke out shortly after midnight on October 1, when Naresh and another worker, Aditya, got into an altercation near the Satyamev construction site in Bopal village. Naresh allegedly struck Aditya on the head during the fight.

Later that morning, around 8 am, Aditya and his colleague Sunil Nao went to fetch water from the labour colony at the Splendora-2 construction site. Still enraged from the earlier quarrel, Naresh, along with three unidentified associates, allegedly confronted the two men. In the ensuing clash, Naresh is accused of stabbing Sunil in the stomach with a knife. Sunil sustained grievous injuries and died on the spot, while Aditya was also beaten and injured.

The victim’s father, Dinesh Maliwad, originally from Dhar district in Madhya Pradesh and currently living in a rented room near the construction site, lodged a formal complaint at Bopal police station. Based on the FIR, police registered a case under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita relating to murder, assault and unlawful possession of weapons, along with provisions of the Gujarat Police Act.

A senior officer said, “Separate teams were immediately formed. CCTV footage from around the site was analysed and the accused’s movements were tracked. Technical surveillance, including call detail records, confirmed his location in Rajasthan. Acting on this, a team was dispatched to Dungarpur where he was apprehended within 20 hours of the crime.”

Police identified the accused as Naresh, son of Haliyabhai Kanabhai Ahari, a native of Rangpur village in Dungarpur district of Rajasthan, currently residing in the Splendora-2 construction colony at Bopal. He was arrested on October 2 around 8 pm.

Officials said efforts are underway to identify and arrest the three other accused involved in the crime. “The murder appears to be the fallout of a personal quarrel, but we are probing whether there are deeper disputes linked to labour groups at the construction sites,” an officer added.

The body of the deceased, Sunil Nao, has been sent for post-mortem examination. Further investigation is in progress.