Defendant Ordered Held In Slaying Of Man Found In Manchester Woods

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A New York man has been ordered held until trial in the killing of a man whose body was found in a wooded area of Manchester in mid-December, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said.

Sandeep Kumar, 34, of South Ozone Park, New York, was ordered Wednesday by Superior Court Judge Wendel E. Daniels to remain jailed until trial in the slaying of Kuldeep Kumar, 35, of India, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

Sandeep Kumar was charged Jan. 3 with murder and conspiracy to commit murder in Kuldeep Kumar's death.

Sandeep Kumar’s co-defendants, Sourav Kumar, 23; Gaurav Singh, 27; Nirmal Singh, 30, and Gurdeep Singh, 22, all of Greenwood, Indiana, have waived extradition from Indiana, authorities said. They will face detention hearings once they are brought to Ocean County; a date for that transportation has not been set.

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.

Sourav Kumar, 23, Gaurav Singh, 27, Nirmal Singh, 30, and Gurdeep Singh, 22, 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.

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.