Police investigators probing the murder of Haryana-based real estate employee Arun Hudda in Farrukhabad on Sunday night suspect the killing was a professionally executed hit.
The suspected use of a suppressor (silencer), the precision of the attack and the assailants’ swift escape point to careful planning, according to people privy to the investigation.
Hudda was returning to Faridabad with his wife, Rakhi, 27, and their young son after a trip to Varanasi when he stopped near a grocery shop at Panchal Ghat in Farrukhabad to buy a soft drink, chocolates and black salt.
As he opened the bottle and mixed in the salt, two men walked up from a white car parked a short distance away. One of them shot Hudda twice in the temple at point-blank range before both men ran back to the car. According to eyewitnesses, one of the assailants shouted, “bhago (run)!” before the pair sped away in a white car bearing a Haryana registration number.
Abhay Verma, the circle officer, said Rakhi told investigators that she was standing beside her husband with their son in her arms when she heard only a faint sound, which she initially mistook for the noise of black salt being poured into the bottle. It was only when Hudda collapsed, bleeding profusely, that she realised he had been shot. The shopkeeper and women at the spot told police they did not hear what sounded like gunfire, lending weight to the suspicion that a suppressed weapon was used.
Investigators suspect the assailants had tracked Hudda’s movements and struck only after he stopped. The getaway car was kept ready, allowing the gunmen to flee within seconds. Despite police setting up checkpoints across neighbouring police station limits and attempting to block the route near the Kali river with a truck, the suspects managed to evade the cordon and escape.
Officers believe the operation bears the hallmark of a planned hit carried out by experienced assailants familiar with the highway network.
Another key question confronting investigators is why Hudda left the Ganga Expressway and travelled to Farrukhabad’s Panchal Ghat. Police said the expressway offered a direct route towards Meerut and onward to Haryana, making the detour unusual. Investigators are examining whether he had been called to the location or diverted from his route.
Police have seized Hudda’s mobile phone and are analysing call detail records, including his last known call from a contact saved as “Shyam Honda” and repeated calls from another number.
His family has also informed investigators about a dispute over a plot of land, which is being examined as a possible motive.
Aarti Singh, the Farrukhabad superintendent of police, said several teams had been formed to investigate the murder. Police are analysing CCTV footage and electronic evidence to identify the shooters and establish whether they had been tracking Hudda before the attack.