Nityanand Pandey, the editor of a news portal and monthly magazine India Unbound, was found dead in Bhiwandi, Maharashtra on Saturday (March 16).
The body was recovered a day after he went missing, and a case of murder has been registered.
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Senior officials in the Thane Rural Police claimed to have held two people in the case, however, they refused to disclose other details.
According to the police, Pandey’s body was found under a bridge in Bhiwandi town on Saturday evening.
He had injuries on head, and the police suspect that he may have been murdered on spot.
Pandey was the owner and editor-in-chief of India Unbound, with offices in Andheri and Mira Road. The 44-year-old lived in Mira Road, with his wife and two children.
Pandey was last seen with friends on Friday evening.
After he did not arrive home and his phone remained switched off at 7.30 pm, his family registered a missing person complaint.
“We identified him on the basis of the missing complaint and called the family to confirm. There were signs of a struggle at the spot and injuries to the head of the deceased,” an official at Bhiwandi Taluka police station was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.
“The cause of death will only be certain once after postmortem is conducted,” added the official.
Police officials said that they are looking for other motives as they eliminated his professional work to be the reason for murder.
Pandey had several cases of extortion registered against him in Mira Road and Mumbai, the police said.
According to the past records, Pandey was booked for allegedly cheating a businessman after promising to get his son admitted to a prestigious college in 2012, while in the following year, he was arrested along with a colleague for allegedly extorting money from a hotelier in Borivali.
