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Derabassi shocker: 45-yr-old man pushed to death from 6th floor; financier among 2 held
As per the police complaint, the victim owed ₹20,000 to the financier, a third accused is currently on run; the victim, Saranjit Singh alias Vicky, who ran a mobile accessories shop outside Gulmohar City, had allegedly borrowed the amount at a high interest rate of 20% a month from the financier, identified as Puneet Mahajan, 35, who lived in the same society.
A day after a 45-year-old man’s body was found in a pool of blood in Gulmohar City society in Derabassi, police have arrested two persons, including a financier, for allegedly pushing him to death from the sixth floor of the residential building over “failure to repay a debt of ₹20,000”.
A third person has also been booked in the case but he is on the run.
The victim, Saranjit Singh alias Vicky, who ran a mobile accessories shop outside Gulmohar City, had allegedly borrowed the amount at a high interest rate of 20% a month from the financier, identified as Puneet Mahajan, 35, who lived in the same society.
The victim’s brother, Deepak Kumar, who is the complainant in the case, told the police that his brother used to pay ₹4,000 a month to Puneet. “In case of even a little delay in paying the money, Puneet used to threaten my brother,” said Deepak.
He further said that on June 26, Puneet had called his brother to his flat in the afternoon, asking for payment. The victim had reportedly told him that he would pay the amount in the evening.
“Late that evening, Puneet called my brother to his flat again, where two other persons were also present. Saranjit rang up our mother around 12.10am and asked her to cook food for everyone. He then collected the food and went back to the accused’s flat. Around 7:30 am on Tuesday, we got to know that my brother’s body was lying in a park behind Puneet’s building,” said the complainant.
The victim was rushed to Derabassi civil hospital where he was declared brought dead.
‘Body dragged 15 metres away’
Police suspect that the three accused had got into a heated argument with the victim under the influence of liquor and pushed him out of the balcony of Puneet’s house and later gone downstairs and dragged his body 15 metres away from the original spot to make it look like the victim fell from some other flat.
A police officer, on the condition of anonymity, said the murder took place between 12:10 am and 1:45 am. Closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in the society captured three men climbing down the stairs of the building where Puneet lived, around 1.45am.
“The crime scene has been tampered with. The body has been dragged about 15 metres away from the spot where he fell,” the cop added.
Another resident had spotted the body lying in a pool of blood the next morning and informed us, the police officer said.
A police source also said the victim’s body didn’t get crushed – something that usually happens after a person falls from such a height, leading to suspicion that he may have been killed in the flat and then dumped downstairs. “We are waiting for the post-mortem report for clarity,” the source added.
Apart from Puneet, police have arrested Sanju Gujjar, 30, a driver of Kheri Gujran village. A third accused, Rinku Gujjar, also a resident of Kheri Gujran village, is at large.
Accused fled the society
After going through the CCTV footage, police had raided Puneet’s locked flat in the morning. When police contacted Puneet, he allegedly told them that he was not aware of Saranjit’s death and the trio was on their way to Amritsar.
“Though we were sure the trio had murdered the victim, we didn’t give them any hints. The locals were of great help, they convinced the trio to join police investigation. Two accused eventually came to the police station where we immediately placed them under arrest. We will soon nab Rinku Gujjar who had visited the flat to give an ice-cream to Puneet,” an officer added.
The accused have been booked under Sections 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) and 34 (criminal act done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Derabassi police station.
The deceased is survived by his wife, brother, mother and two children. His wife used to stay in a different flat in the same society due to some dispute.
