2 held for ex-minister Atmaram's murder

The Baghpat police have arrested two men in connection with the murder of senior BJP leader Atmaram Tomar, who held a ministerial-rank post in the Kalyan Singh government.

Seventy-five-year-old Tomar was found murdered at his home on September 10 and there were marks of struggle on his body.

On the basis of a complaint filed by Tomar's son and after scanning the CCTV footage of the house, the police had booked Praveen Kumar and his accomplice Balram Singh.

Both of them were arrested on Tuesday.

Superintendent of police (SP) of Baghpat, Neeraj Jadaun, said, "Both the murder accused, Praveen and Balram, have been arrested. They have confessed to their crime as well. We have also recovered SUV keys and the mobile phone of the deceased."

During questioning, Praveen alleged that Tomar used to "treat him like a servant" and would not even give him his salary on time.

Tomar's elder son, Pratap, a radiologist, said, "Praveen used to work at my father's gas agency. He was sacked due to some financial irregularities recently. However, my father called him back at the family's request. Praveen and his accomplice Balram killed my father."

Earlier the police had arrested two men, Manmohan Singh and Subhash Kumar, for allegedly giving shelter to the two main accused. The SUV stolen from Tomar's home was also recovered from their possession.