Delhi: Man released by police for lack of evidence tells court he committed murder

A Delhi eatery owner, Ram Kumar Dubey, confessed in court to fatally attacking his employee in self-defense amid a fight over money.

A Delhi eatery owner who was arrested for a murder in December last year and then released by police citing lack of evidence, has now confessed in court that he did fatally attack the victim — but claims it was in self-defence.

The court denied the accused’s bail plea on Thursday, noting that the trial was still in early stages, that Dubey had misled investigators, and that one of his co-accused was still on the run. (Representational image)

Ram Kumar Dubey, owner of a roadside eatery in Krishna Nagar, Shahdara in east Delhi, was arrested after his employee, 35-year-old Gangesh Shukla, went missing and was later found dead. Shukla was last seen at Kashmere Gate bus stand on November 25, and his body was found at a DTC bus stand the same day. The body was unidentified until December 16, when the family identified it in a mortuary, police said.

The family accused Dubey and his associates of attacking Gangesh, faking his kidnapping, and demanding ₹70,000 as ransom, police said. Dube was arrested, but despite the family’s allegations, police released him days later, saying there was no evidence to hold him. The family did not discover that Dubey had been released until weeks later. No FIR was lodged in the case either, said police.

In April, a Delhi court finally ordered that an FIR be registered. Dubey was re-arrested and charged with murder the same month, officers said.

On Thursday, in court, Dubey’s lawyer admitted that Dubey did, in fact, hit Gangesh on the head with an iron ladle — but claims it was done in “private defence” during a fight over money. According to the defence, the victim had tried to attack Dubey first with a gas cylinder.

The court denied Dubey’s bail plea on Thursday, noting that the trial was still in early stages, that Dubey had misled investigators, and that one of his co-accused was still on the run.

The court order mentioned a witness’ statement, which said that Dubey and Shukla had fought on November 25 over the eatery’s accounts. According to the FIR lodged in April, Gangesh was “seriously injured” during the fight, after Dubey hit him on his head and body with an iron ladle.