MEERUT, June 4 -- A retired Uttar Pradesh state road transport corporation employee was murdered in Meerut's Ganganagar area, allegedly by a man who owed him Rs.2.5 lakh. Police said the victim, 67-year-old Moolchand Tyagi, was first strangled and then attacked with a sharp-edged weapon before his body was dumped near the Sikheda Rajbaha canal along NH-34.

Tyagi, a resident of F Block 110 in Ganganagar, was running a small grocery shop outside his home following retirement. He was also known to lend money at interest and had reportedly extended Rs.8 to 10 lakh in loans to various individuals.

One such borrower, Azad Jatav, a salesman from the Kaseru Baksar area, was among those who had borrowed Rs.2.5 lakh from Tyagi along with an assoc...