75-year-old man found dead at his residence in Sector 69

A 75-year-old man was allegedly stabbed to death in an empty flat at his four-storey residence at Neelkanth enclave in Sector-69 on Wednesday

A 75-year-old man was allegedly stabbed to death in an empty flat at his four-storey residence at Neelkanth enclave in Sector-69 on Wednesday.

75-year-old man found dead at his residence in Sector 69

Police said that the deceased, Janardan Dutta, was stabbed at least six times in the neck in quick succession with a sharp weapon, which is often used for breaking ice slabs.The suspects washed the murder weapon and left it behind in the flat before fleeing, said police.

According to police, Dutta, a retired employee of the central government’s post and telegraph department, and his wife Sulekha Dutta (69) lived on the third floor of their house while three families lived on the first and second floors and a room on the terrace respectively.

Police said the suspects allegedly rang the doorbell of Dutta’s flat after climbing to the third floor around 4pm on Wednesday. Dutta opened the door and went downstairs with the suspects.

Police said his wife could not see anyone or hear anything as she was watching TV. Around 4.30pm, the family’s caretaker Sunita, who lives on the terrace, spotted the door of one of the two flats on the first floor open. On entering, she found Dutta lying in a pool of blood.

Sunita raised an alarm, following which the neighbours rushed Dutta to a private hospital in Sector-38, where doctors declared him brought dead.

Investigators suspect the unidentified men met Dutta on the pretext of taking a flat at his residence on rent.

Dutta’s son, a director of a shipping firm, lives in an apartment in Sector-49. Police said Dutta used to live with his son but wanted a private house for himself, reason why he shifted to Sector-69 in 2017 after the construction of the house was completed.

Based on the complaint of Dutta’s wife, police registered an FIR against unidentified suspects under section 302 (murder) of the IPC at Badshahpur police station on Thursday.

Inspector Dinkar Yadav, station house officer of Badshahpur police station, said it wasn’t clear yet why Dutta was murdered and how many suspects were there. “Investigation is underway. We are trying to ascertain the identity of the suspects,” he said.