Rahul Verma

Lucknow, Jan. 25: The CBI today arrested an IIM Lucknow student for his alleged role in the murder of a fashion designer four years ago.

Aadesh Bajpai had gone missing from the IIT Kanpur campus on August 23, 2008. He had gone there to meet his friend Rahul Verma, who was then studying at the IIT.

Aadesh was killed in 2008 and his remains were recovered from the IIT Kanpur campus. The case was handed over to the CBI on the instructions of Allahabad High Court last year. The agency arrested Rahul today and got his custody from a special court.

On August 10, 2008, Mumbai-based Aadesh had gone to Moolganj in Lucknow to meet his cousin Vivek Trivedi. On August 22, Aadesh left for IIT Kanpur. He went missing the following day.

After six days, Aadesh’s father Suryakant Bajpai filed an FIR with Kanpur police. The police established from cellphone records that Aadesh had gone to the campus.

After 13 days, some human remains were found on the campus. DNA profiling established they were Aadesh’s.

A CBI source said today that Rahul and Aadesh had been friends but appeared to have fallen out, which may have led to the murder.

“Rahul was last seen with Aadesh. Aadesh’s parents said he had gone to Lucknow on August 10, 2008, from Mumbai,” the source said.

“After visiting his cousin Vivek in Moolganj, Aadesh left for IIT Kanpur to meet Rahul on August 22. They were last seen together on campus on August 23.”

The police are probing if there is a love interest involved.