Yuvraj Singh Manchanda, a 31-year-old HR employee at Adani Realty based in south Delhi’s Sarita Vihar, was shot dead in Gurugram on September 6, after attending an urgent meeting with his former colleague Anya Vats and her husband Sanyam Sachdeva, according to Gurugram police and news reports. Set to be married within a month, Manchanda had gone to Gurugram following wedding preparations with his sisters in Lajpat Nagar when he was killed inside the couple’s white Creta vehicle, with his family receiving misleading WhatsApp messages from his phone for days afterward.
The Disappearance and WhatsApp Messages Sent by Killers
According to police and family accounts reported across sources, Manchanda was shopping for his wedding at Lajpat Nagar’s Central Market and visiting the Golden Dragon Restaurant with his sister on September 6 when he received a call and left abruptly for an urgent meeting in Gurugram. He drove his MG Astros to Sector 70, where he parked and boarded a white Creta driven by Sanyam Sachdeva, with Anya Vats seated in the back, as detailed by law enforcement. Shortly after, Vats pulled out a gun and shot Manchanda in the neck. For the next two days, according to police, the couple kept his body in the vehicle while roaming around Gurugram and using Manchanda’s phone to send messages to his family, fiancée, and childhood friend Sahil to conceal the crime.
Between September 6 and September 8, the victim’s family received WhatsApp messages claiming he was “fine” and that his phone might get switched off. On September 8, another text stated he would return on Saturday before changing the date to Thursday, and even forwarded a ticket to Bengaluru to his sister. Suspicious because Manchanda never acted out of character, his sister demanded a video call, which went unanswered. When he remained unreachable, his sister filed a missing person report at the Lajpat Nagar police station on September 11, registering an FIR under Section 140(3) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, as noted by India Today.
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According to police investigations, after dumping Yuvraj Singh Manchanda’s body in a drain in Badshahpur on September 8, the accused couple fled to Uttarakhand and stayed at a PG guest house near Kainchi Dham before being tracked down via a new mobile number.
Motive and Police Investigation into the Gurugram Couple
Investigators suspect a financial dispute was the primary motive behind the killing, according to police sources cited across news reports. Manchanda and Anya Vats had previously worked together at a real estate company named Emaar before Vats was fired in 2022 following allegations of financial mismanagement, while Manchanda later took a position at Adani Realty. Police examining Vats’s financial details found that despite maintaining a lavish lifestyle with a one-year-old child, her bank account was nearly empty around the time of the incident, showing frequent incoming funds that were quickly transferred out. Authorities also indicated that Vats had borrowed money from Manchanda and allegedly failed to return it, alongside allegations from the family that she had continually harassed him over professional matters.
Delhi Police and Gurugram Police utilized call records, internet protocol detail records, CCTV footage, and technical evidence to reconstruct the timeline. By tracking an active mobile number used by Vats in Uttarakhand, a team detained both Vats and Sachdeva in Kainchi Dham, recovering a gun, Manchanda’s car, and his phone, according to police statements.
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Body Recovery and Family Demands for Preservation
Gurugram Police recovered an unidentified body from a drain in Sector 70 on September 10, four days after the murder, but failed to upload identification details to the Zonal Integrated Police Network (ZIPNET) in time, according to police and family accounts. Because the body was decomposed and unclaimed after a designated waiting period, authorities cremated it on September 14. Yuvraj’s family only learned of his death on September 16 when police showed them photographs of the deceased, which they used to identify him.
The victim’s family, noting that Manchanda was the sole breadwinner for a paralyzed father and a mother suffering from heart disease, has demanded that the post-mortem report, inquiry papers, photographs, DNA samples, and personal belongings—such as a ring and a watch he was wearing—be preserved and turned over. The accused couple has since been arrested and remanded to five days of police custody.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who are the accused in the murder of Yuvraj Singh Manchanda?
According to police, the accused are Anya Vats, a former colleague of the victim, and her husband, Sanyam Sachdeva.
When and where did the incident take place?
Yuvraj Singh Manchanda was killed on September 6, inside a car in Gurugram’s Sector 70 after meeting the suspects, and his body was subsequently dumped in a drain in Badshahpur.
What do police suspect as the motive for the crime?
Police suspect a financial dispute, noting that Anya Vats had previously been fired from a real estate company for financial irregularities and had allegedly borrowed money from Manchanda without returning it.
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