Varanasi: Police in Varanasi have arrested Virendra Yadav (24) for allegedly murdering his friend and former colleague, Aftab Alam (28), whose body was found in a field earlier this month in Mahagaon Madai village.
The case surfaced on January 8, 2026, when police received information about the body of an unidentified man lying near a pond. Blood was reportedly visible from the mouth and nose. During the search, officers recovered a bag containing an identity card identifying the deceased as Aftab Alam, a resident of Chapra, Bihar, employed with Siddharth Automatic India Private Limited. After postmortem formalities, the body was handed over to the family for last rites.
On January 21, Aftab’s family approached Sindhaura police, expressing suspicion of foul play and flagging suspicious financial transactions. Police found that ₹40,000 had been transferred via UPI from Aftab’s account to Virendra’s account on the same day the body was recovered.
Following investigation, police identified Virendra Yadav, a resident of Laskarpur village under Cholapur police station, as the prime suspect and arrested him on January 25.
During interrogation, Virendra claimed that he murdered Aftab due to humiliation stemming from a past incident, alleging that Aftab had deceived him into consuming meat and later ridiculed him publicly. Police said the accused claimed this humiliation pushed him to plan the killing.
Investigators revealed that on January 7, while travelling from Chapra to Chennai, Aftab stopped in Varanasi to meet Virendra. The accused allegedly took him from the railway station to a secluded area in Mahagaon, where he strangled him with a rope and dumped the body in a field.
Based on the accused’s disclosure, police recovered the rope used in the murder, along with the victim’s Aadhaar card, ATM card, mobile phone, PAN card, employee ID, and contractor ID. Efforts are ongoing to arrest a second accused allegedly involved in the crime.
However, the victim’s family has rejected Virendra’s claims. Aftab’s father, Kalamuddin, alleged that the murder was committed for financial gain and accused the suspect of fabricating a false motive to evade punishment.
Police also stated that Virendra has a serious criminal history, with previous cases registered against him for murder, attempt to murder, Arms Act violations, and under the Gangsters Act. Further investigation is underway.
