Ghaziabad: The bodies of two youths, who were missing since New Year eve, were recovered from a field here with their faces burnt with acid, police said on Thursday.
Five police teams have been formed to arrest the three "illegal" factory owners booked for the murder of the youths who had been raising their voice against the polluting units in the area, officials said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Trans Hindon) Deeksha Sharma said police teams are raiding the possible hideouts of the factory owners against whom the deceased's family members have lodged the FIR and they will be nabbed soon.
However, the FIR does not mention any name, the DCP said.
Police said that after the missing report of the youths was filed on January 1, the factory owners had shut down their units and fled from the area.
The bodies were spotted on Wednesday evening by some passersby in a crop field with their faces burnt with acid ostensibly to hide their identity, they said.
The victims, identified as Durgesh Kasana (25) and Gaurav Kasana (24), from Ristal village under Teela Mor police station area left their homes to celebrate New Year on December 31 evening but they did not return, police said.
The locals protested with the bodies and it was only when senior police officials reached the spot and pacified them that the bodies were sent for postmortem late in the night, police said.
Both the youths who were friends had been raising their voice against polluting units in which the owners were burning rubber coated wires for getting copper, police said quoting the FIR.
The duo had made several complaints about the units with the departments concerned and locals also supported them. Some units were closed on their complaints but after a few days they again became operational, the FIR said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)