Fed up of paying extortion, vegetable vendor kills man in Subhash Place

A 25-year-old vegetable vendor, fed up of having to hand over a substantial portion of his daily earnings to a local extortionist, in north Delhi’s Subhash Place hacked the alleged criminal to death, Delhi Police said on Thursday

A 25-year-old vegetable vendor, fed up of having to hand over a substantial portion of his daily earnings to a local extortionist, in north Delhi’s Subhash Place hacked the alleged criminal to death, Delhi Police said on Thursday.

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The suspect, Ravi Singh, was caught by Delhi Police’s crime branch on Wednesday, three days after he hacked Vijay Sahil to death.

According to Monika Bhardwaj, deputy commissioner of police (crime), Singh operated a vegetable cart in Subhash Place with which he supported his family.

“But he was being forced to come to cough up a substantial portion of that earning to the local criminal, Vijay Sahil,” said the DCP.

Sahil had nearly two dozen criminal cases against him, ranging from theft to murder across Delhi. He lived in the same neighbourhood as Singh.

On Sunday evening, Sahil again visited Singh’s vegetable stall, allegedly to collect his daily extortion money.

But Singh this time refused to pay, said the DCP.

That led to a heated exchange between them, during which Sahil allegedly threatened Singh, who responded by using a knife to hack the alleged extortionist to death.

While Singh fled the crime spot and went into hiding, Sahil’s body lay at the spot until next morning when it was discovered by his family.

Initially, given the background of the dead man, the local police suspected it to be a case of enmity with another criminal. But the evidence at the spot soon indicated the alleged involvement of Singh.

“On Wednesday, we received a tip-off about Singh’s location and we arrested him. We have handed him over to the local police,” said DCP Bhardwaj.