Shaved head, fled city to dodge police, nagar palika councillor arrested for bizman murder

Ghaziabad: A Loni Nagar Palika sabhashad, a post equivalent to a councillor in GMC, was arrested on Wednesday for his alleged involvement in the attack and murder of businessman Vikram Mavi in May this year. The accused had a bounty of Rs 50,000 for his arrest.
According to police, the accused was identified as Sonu Baghel (35), a native of Etawah who currently resides in the Loni border area.Baghel had contested in the Nagar Palika elections in 2023 on behalf of the Rashtriya Lok Dal party and won, serving as sabhashad for Ward 19, Loni since then.
On May 11, Loni border resident Vikram Mavi and his son Sagar Mavi were attacked by men linked to Baghel at the behest of Vikram’s nephew Pawan Bhati. Sagar Mavi suffered head injuries in the attack, while his father was shot multiple times and died during treatment.
An FIR was later registered under IPC sections 302 (murder), 147 (rioting), 148 (armed with a deadly weapon), 149 (offense committed in prosecution of common object), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt), and 341 (wrongful restraint) at Loni border police station.
So far, 21 suspects involved in the attack have been taken into police custody, including one minor who was sent to juvenile correctional proceedings, a senior officer from the crime branch said.
“Our teams had been working to nab the absconding accused and on Tuesday we finally managed to nab Baghel from Teela Pipeline road,” the officer added.
During interrogation, Baghel told cops that he met Pawan Bhati, a resident of Loni Border, after winning the Nagar Palika elections last year.
“He said that he attacked the Mavis on Bhati’s behest, and after Vikram Mavi’s death, he fled to Etawah, shaved his head and face, and kept changing locations to evade police,” the officer said.
Baghel also told cops that the entire attack had been planned at Baghel’s residence and that he was present along with the other accused on the day of the incident.
Further investigation is underway, police said.