New Delhi, Feb 24: A 20-year-old model and upcoming actor was murdered and his body stuffed in a suitcase, allegedly by kidnappers who had called his family two days ago with a demand for Rs 2 lakh. Sumit Tiwari's body was found on Saturday at the east Delhi residence one of his acquaintances, Shantideep, who has gone missing.
Sumit was apparently strangled to death and there were several injury marks on his body, police said.
The motive for the murder is unclear but cops suspect Sumit was kidnapped to finance a movie. The acquaintance, Shantideep, was reportedly a screenplay writer and part of a film Sumit was to act in. When police traced calls and reached Shantideep's house in Mandawali, it was locked. Shantideep has been untraceable since.
Shantideep belongs to Devariya in UP and teams have been sent to trace him. Police are also looking for a purported film maker, Rakesh, as Sumit had left home on February 19 and 20 to meet him.
Sumit lived with his parents in Johripur in Karawal Nagar in northeast Delhi. His father, Rameshwar Tiwari, works for a private company. Sumit had completed an acting course from Marwah Studio, Film City, in December and had started modelling for various agencies. In the past few months, he was acting in TV soaps, an officer said
On Thursday, he was at Akshardham temple for a shoot and had called up his father around 5pm saying he would return home soon. Around 8pm, the family received a call from an unidentified person that Sumit was in their custody. He demanded Rs 2 lakh at the earliest to release him.
The kidnappers called up a second time but the Tiwaris were too scared to pick it up. They went to the police and filed a case of abduction. Sumit's details were soon uploaded on Zipnet, a website for missing people.
Tracing the calls on Sumit's mobile number, police teams reached Shantideep's house in lane number 2 of Mandawali on Saturday evening which was locked. Police broke open the door and found Sumit's body stuffed in a suitcase. Sumit's body has been preserved in GTB Hospital for postmortem which will be conducted on Sunday or Monday, an officer said.
As news of the death of their only son reached the Tiwari family, a pall of gloom settled over the household. "They had spent lakhs of rupees on Sumit's training and wanted him to become a star. They had no idea that this profession will lead to his murder," said a relative. Sumit's mother has been fainting on and off while his father has not stopped crying since. Sumit is survived by his parents and an elder sister.
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