Three years, nine months, and three days have passed, but the chilling mystery of a triple murder at a CNG station in Gurgaon's Sector 31 remains frozen in time. On a dark February night in 2022, three young men were brutally stabbed to death in a swift, savage attack that lasted mere minutes. Their killers vanished into the night, leaving behind a scene of horror, untouched cash, and a puzzle that has confounded investigators ever since.
A Night of Horror on the Delhi-Jaipur Expressway
The location was a bustling CNG pump on the service road of the Delhi-Jaipur Expressway in Sector 31. Today, fairy lights still adorn the station, but they illuminate a site marked by tragedy. In the pre-dawn hours of Monday, February 28, 2022, three staff members were asleep inside the manager's room.
They were Pushpendra Singh (26), the pump manager; Bhupendra (22), a CNG operator; and Naresh Kumar (23), a filling staff member. Unbeknownst to them, unidentified assailants crept onto the premises at 2:44 am.
The attack was calculated and ruthless. The assailants first cut the power supply, plunging the entire station into darkness and disabling all 14 CCTV cameras. With the lights and cameras out, they entered the manager's office. What followed was a frenzied stabbing spree that lasted only three to four minutes.
In a desperate bid for survival, one of the victims, later identified as Bhupendra, staggered out and ran towards an adjacent petrol pump. He collapsed there moments later. At 2:47 am, the chaos spilled into the view of the neighbouring pump's operational CCTV, capturing his harrowing final moments. An alert attendant immediately called the police.
A Baffling Motive and a Frustrating Investigation
When officers arrived, they found a grim scene. Pushpendra and Naresh lay dead inside the office. Bhupendra was dead outside. To their surprise, a safe in the office containing at least Rs 10 lakh in cash was untouched. The victims' phones and wallets were still with them.
This immediately raised baffling questions about the motive. While the pump operator, Prashant Gulati, later mentioned about Rs 1 lakh possibly being missing, police found no clear signs of robbery. The case was registered as murder by multiple persons with common intention.
The investigation that unfolded was exhaustive. Over nearly three years, three different Station House Officers from Sector 40 police station handled the case. Teams from the Crime Branch of Sectors 31 and 40 were roped in. Police questioned 400 to 500 people, including all pump employees, staff from nearby eateries and dhabas, shopkeepers selling sharp weapons, and even revisited suspects from an older 2019 case.
Forensic teams lifted 11 grass prints from the scene. Blood samples, a knife butt, and blankets were collected. The victims' mobile phones were sent for digital analysis. Police announced a Rs 1 lakh reward for information, which remains unclaimed. They traced and questioned owners of about 100 mobile numbers active near the crime scene at that time.
Every angle was explored: personal enmity, robbery, or a grudge from a former employee. The families of the deceased, all from humble backgrounds in Uttar Pradesh, insisted the young men had no enemies. Bhupendra was the sole breadwinner for his family. Naresh was married with two infant children. Pushpendra's elder brother, Shailendra, who also worked at the pump, was dismissed along with Naresh's brother days after the incident.
A Cold Case and Unanswered Questions
Despite the relentless efforts, the trail went cold. On December 21, 2023, the police filed a final 'Untrace' report before a city court. The report stated, "Despite all possible efforts, no trace of the accused was found... A considerable amount of time has passed... and it is not appropriate to continue the investigation any further." It concluded that the investigation would be resumed if the accused were discovered in the future.
For the grieving families, there is no closure. Shailendra Singh alleges the police never informed them of the mobile analysis results and questions who was calling his brother just before the attack. The families have written to the Chief Minister's and Prime Minister's offices, pleading for justice that seems increasingly elusive.
Prashant Gulati, the former operator, has since handed the pump back to Haryana City Gas and retired. He believes the police "left no stone unturned" but acknowledges that not all crimes can be solved. The new operator, who chose to remain anonymous, has significantly upgraded security, installing 18-20 battery-operated cameras and fortifying the premises at a cost of Rs 4 lakh.
The CNG pump in Sector 31 continues its daily business, a quiet sentinel on a busy road. But it stands as a permanent witness to a brutal crime whose perpetrators still lurk in the shadows, and for three families, the wait for answers and justice stretches on indefinitely.
