Caterer killed over ₹1,200 owed to staffer in Delhi

Police said Sonu, the catering contractor, lived in Gurmandi neighbourhood of Model Town with his wife and four sons, and informally employed many locals.

A 38-year-old catering contractor was stabbed to death by his employee and his brother over pending wages of ₹1,200 in northwest Delhi’s Model Town on Thursday evening, police said, addingthey arrested both men shortly after the murder the same evening.

Police arrested both men shortly after the murder the same evening.

Police said Sonu, the catering contractor, lived in Gurmandi neighbourhood of Model Town with his wife and four sons, and informally employed many locals. He used to employ brothers Rahul and Harish, aged between 20 and 22, occasionally as well. They lived in the same neighbourhood, police said.

“Rahul was recently hired for a day by Sonu, but was not paid a day’s wage of ₹1,200. So, he had been pestering him to pay the dues,” said a police investigator asking not to be named.

On Thursday, Rahul again approached Sonu for the money, but it soon snowballed into a quarrel. “When Rahul realised he wouldn’t get his money even on Thursday, he abused Sonu, who beat him up,” said the officer.

“Rahul called his brother Harish who came to the spot, in their neighbourhood, with a switchblade. In the scuffle that followed, Harish stabbed Sonu two or three times,” the police officer said.

Sonu was rushed to a hospital where doctors declared him dead on arrival even as the police were tipped off about the quarrel at 5.50pm.

Deputy commissioner of police (northwest) Jitendra Kumar Meena said, “We arrested both of them from the neighbourhood soon after the crime and booked them for murder.” He added that the knife used in the crime had been recovered.