Delhi: Decomposed body found near Safdarjung hospital, four held

Police said that the man was murdered by at least four men, who were arrested within 24 hours after the body was discovered.

The decomposed body of a man was found at a park behind Safdarjung hospital in south Delhi on Wednesday morning, police said on Friday.

Police said that the murder took place around two weeks ago in revenge of an attack by the deceased and his friends. (Representational image)

Police said that the man was murdered by at least four men, who were arrested within 24 hours after the body was discovered. Police added that the murder took place around two weeks ago in revenge of an attack by the deceased and his friends.

Police identified the man as Deepak, 18, who hailed from Nepal. They said that he was missing from his home in Pilanji in south Delhi’s Sarojini Nagar for at least 16 days. However, his parents did not lodge a missing complaint with the police as they thought that Deepak had had gone out of station with his friends, police said. Deputy commissioner of police (southwest) Manoj C said that Deepak used to commit petty thefts and sell the stolen items to meet his daily expenses.

The DCP said that on Wednesday morning, a local resident informed the Safdarjung Enclave police station regarding a body lying in the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) park behind the Safdarjung hospital. A police team reached the park and found a highly putrefied body in the park’s bushes after an extensive search. Police said that the body had decomposed to such an extent that they were unable to ascertain its gender. Except for some torn clothes, there were no identification marks or documents at the spot, said DCP Manoj.

“All nearby police stations were informed about the body. The efforts led to the identification of the deceased as a man named Deepak, who lived with his family in Pilanji. The body was shifted to the Safdarjung hospital mortuary for autopsy. A case of murder was registered at the Safdarjung Enclave police station,” said the DCP, adding that five teams were formed to probe the case and nab the killers.

During the probe, the teams learnt from Deepak’s family that he had been missing for nearly 16 days, after he left home informing his parents that he was going to meet his friends in Safdarjung Enclave. He did not return thereafter. Deepak’s father Tul Bahadur, who works at a meat shop, told the police that they did not suspect anything amiss, so did not file any police complaint.

The investigation later revealed that Deepak was last seen with some people around two weeks ago in Kotla Mubarakpur area. Four people were then asked to join the investigation. After interrogation, they confessed to killing Deepak to avenge an attack two months ago and were arrested. They were identified as General alias JD, 22, from Arjun Nagar near Safdarjung Enclave, Rahul alias Babu, 27, from Green Park, Varun, 19, from Nangal Rai near Delhi Cantonment, and a minor.

“The suspects were identified and arrested within 24 hours. Their interrogation revealed that in May, Deepak and his friends had a quarrel with General and Varun over some issue in Kotla Mubarakpur wherein the duo was stabbed with a knife. Two weeks ago, they decided to take revenge for this attack. Along with two of their associates, they lured Deepak to the park and slit his throat,” added DCP Manoj.