A businessman was allegedly strangled to death by two men, who were supposedly his friends, after the duo got into an argument with him over a 'joke'. They subsequently abused him with sticks and then killed him.

The victim, identified as Aditya Soni, hailed from Greater Noida and had apparently left his house in Omnicron-1 Sector to visit his relative who was diagnosed with Covid-19. When he did not return home or answer the phone calls, Soni's mother registered a complaint with the local police station, claiming that her son was last seen with his friends, Dev and Pankaj, who are brothers. "An investigation was taken up and the brothers questioned. Soni's car, some jewellery and his mobile phone were recovered from them, after which they revealed the entire episode of killing their friend. Pankaj told police that he and Soni had a fight over some joke on July 5 after which he had abused him. Pankaj and Dev then hit Soni with sticks and then strangulated him. The body was then dumped in the Gang canal," an spokesperson reportedly stated.

According to an investigating official, based on information from the accused, the body was recovered from the canal and it was identified by his family members. An FIR was registered against the accused under sections 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) and 394 (causing hurt in committing robbery) of the Indian Penal Code and the two of them have been arrested and remanded in judicial custody.