Shailendra, found dead on Monday morning, was murdered by two of his friends, one of whose sister the deceased wanted to marry.

Munna Kumar (27) and Ramji (28) were arrested on Tuesday, around 12 hours after police found Shailendra’s body in the lodge where he used to stay. Shailendra, 22, wanted to marry Ramji’s sister.

He used to live on the fourth floor of a lodge in the Ram Nagar area with his elder brother, Dheeraj.

Deputy superintendent of police (sadar) Mutaffiq Ahmed told The Telegraph: “Shailendra’s elder brother Dheeraj had gone home for Diwali. Returning to the lodge on Monday morning, he found the room locked. When he called Shailendra on his cellphone, somebody else answered and told him to come back after two hours. Dheeraj found something amiss and waited outside for an hour before calling the police for help. The cops broke open the door to find Shailendra’s body in a pool of blood on the bed.”

During investigation, the police came to know about Munna Kumar, a resident of Nalanda district. Ahmed said: “He was a friend of Shailendra and used to visit him in the lodge often. The police raided his residence in Nalanda and picked him up in the early hours of Tuesday.”

The police nabbed Ramji based on Munna’s confession, said Ahmed. Senior superintendent of police Manu Maharaj said: “Ramji used to live in the same locality as Shailendra and became friends with the trio as he refilled LPG cylinders. Shailendra was wooing Ramji’s sister and even proposed to marry her. Ramji turned his offer down. He wanted Shailendra out of his sister’s life and conspired with Munna to kill Shailendra.”

Ahmed said Munna owed Ramji Rs 5,000, which the latter offered to waive if Munna agreed to kill Shailendra.

He said: “On Diwali night, Munna came to Shailendra’s room as he knew he would be alone. Later, Ramji joined them. Late at night, Munna picked up a cylinder in the room and hit Shailendra on his head. He also slit Shailendra’s throat and sneaked out of the room with Ramji. While leaving for Nalanda, he took Shailendra’s mobile phone, wallet and his bike.” The post-mortem revealed that Shailendra died of wounds inflicted by the cylinder, said Ahmed.

Killer plan

Nov. 3: Late night, Munna hits Shailendra on the head with an LPG cylinder & slits his throat
Nov. 4: Police discover Shailendra’s body in his room after Dheeraj
alerts them
Nov. 5: Munna arrested from Nalanda, and Ramji held based on Munna’s confession