5th Person Charged In Death Of Man Found In Manchester Woods

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A fifth person has been charged in the killing of a man whose body was found in a wooded area of Manchester in mid-December, authorities said.

Sandeep Kumar, 34, of South Ozone Park, New York, has been charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the death of Kuldeep Kumar, 35, of India, in Manchester Township, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer and New Jersey State Police Superintendent Col. Patrick J. Callahan said in a news release.

The body of Kuldeep Kumar was found in the Greenwood Wildlife Management Area off Pasadena Road in Manchester on Dec. 14, in an advanced state of decomposition, authorities said. An autopsy performed Dec. 15 by the Ocean County Medical Examiner's Office determined he had died of multiple gunshot wounds to the chest, authorities said.

The body was identified as Kuldeep Kumar with assistance from the FBI, authorities said. He had been reported missing on Oct. 26 by family members in Ozone Park, New York, they said.

Investigators determined he was killed on or about Oct. 22, authorities said.

Sourav Kumar, 23, Gaurav Singh, 27, Nirmal Singh, 30, and Gurdeep Singh, 22, all of Greenwood, Indiana, have been charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the slaying, and were arrested in Greenwood, Indiana on Dec. 20. They are being held in the Johnson County Jail in Franklin, Indiana, pending extradition, authorities said.

Authorities have not offered a motive and have not yet released information on how they determined the five men charged are connected to Kuldeep Kumar's slaying. They also have not said whether or how any of the men are related to each other or to Kuldeep Kumar

Sandeep Kumar was arrested Friday and processed at the New Jersey State Police Barracks in Holmdel, then taken to the Ocean County Jail, where he is being held \pending a detention hearing.