Chhattisgarh Police have arrested five men and detained two juveniles over the October 31 murder of 20-year-old Karan Dongre in Balodabazar district, after tracing more than 1,000 CCTV recordings and vehicle movements across two districts. Investigators say the killing was revenge in an ongoing turf war over the illegal ganja trade, Superintendent of Police Gaurav Rai said.
Dongre’s body, bearing multiple stab wounds and stripped to delay identification, was found on October 31 along a forest path between Murumdih and Raytumn villages under the Bya police post, Haribhoomi reported. A tattoo reading “KP” on the body eventually helped police identify him as Karan Dongre, also known by that nickname.
Police said the accused used an old acquaintance with Dongre to lure him with the promise of work in the Mahasamund area, then moved him through a sequence of vehicle handoffs before killing him in an isolated forest stretch in Bya.
How the CCTV and AI trail cracked the case
SP Gaurav Rai formed a special investigation team that examined over 1,000 CCTV recordings from locations including the Raipur-Durg national highway and multiple toll plazas, using AI-assisted tools to match vehicle movements across that stretch, according to the report.
Tyre marks at the scene indicated two four-wheelers had been involved. Investigators said Dongre was picked up in a KIA car in the Sambalpur area while a second vehicle, a WagonR, trailed to monitor and guide the route. Tracking the KIA eventually led police to the first suspect, whose questioning pointed investigators to others hiding in Durg district, where Durg police assisted with the arrests.
Police recovered the knife used in the attack along with the KIA, the WagonR, and a scooter linked to the accused, Haribhoomi reported. The Raipur-Durg stretch the team reviewed is one of Chhattisgarh’s busiest highway corridors, lined with toll plazas that gave investigators a dense network of cameras to draw on for the vehicle-tracing work.
What investigators say triggered the killing
Police attributed the murder to a rivalry over the illegal ganja trade. According to the report, Amarjeet Singh Soni’s son, Shiva, was killed in October in an earlier, separate incident. Investigators allege Soni plotted Dongre’s killing in revenge, directing the other accused, some of them through paid contract arrangements, to carry it out.
The case illustrates how the ganja trade has produced an escalating cycle of retaliatory violence in parts of Balodabazar district this year, though police have not said whether the two killings are connected to a wider network beyond the people already named.
Balodabazar, part of the Raipur revenue division in central Chhattisgarh, has seen the illegal ganja trade surface in enforcement action elsewhere in the state through the year. In Bastar’s Jagdalpur, police separately seized 476 kg of ganja worth an estimated Rs 2.38 crore and arrested seven people, including three minors, in an unrelated case, Praman News reported. Neither case has been linked to the other by police.
Who has been arrested
Police named five adults in the case: Mohammad Anas Ashrafi, Syed Altaf Ali alias Farzan, Raj Yadav alias Sai, Rahul Das Manikpuri, and Amarjeet Singh Soni, identified as the person who planned the killing. Two further individuals, described by police as juveniles in conflict with law, were separately detained; their identities have not been released, consistent with standard practice for minors in custody.
The report did not give the exact charges filed or specify which court will hear the case against the adults.
What happens next
The accused remain in custody as the investigation continues. Haribhoomi’s report did not say whether police are pursuing further arrests connected to the ganja trafficking network it says lies behind the rivalry, or whether Shiva’s October killing, the act police say triggered this revenge murder, remains a separate open case. Officials have not said when formal charges will be presented in court for the five adults, or whether the two detained juveniles will go before Chhattisgarh’s Juvenile Justice Board, the standard body under Indian law for minors accused of serious offences.
Frequently asked questions
Who was Karan Dongre?
Police identified him as a 20-year-old known locally as “KP,” whose body was found on October 31 in a forest stretch in Balodabazar district. The report did not give further personal details.
What charges have been filed?
Haribhoomi’s report did not specify the exact sections under which the five adults have been charged, or confirm a court date.
What happens to the two juveniles who were detained?
The report described them only as “children in conflict with law” and did not name them or confirm which juvenile justice process will handle their case, consistent with standard restrictions on identifying minors in custody.
Have the accused or their lawyers responded?
Haribhoomi’s report did not include any statement from the accused or legal representatives acting on their behalf.
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