E-Paper
Body found in East Delhi school sewage tank
Police said their probe has revealed that the man and his friend had entered the school on Monday night, allegedly to steal mercury lights, and his friend allegedly pushed him off the roof following a fight over how the loot would be split.
The body of a 21-year-old man, who was missing since Monday, was found in the sewage tank of an MCD school in east Delhi’s Khichripur on Wednesday afternoon.
Police said their probe has revealed that the man and his friend had entered the school on Monday night, allegedly to steal mercury lights, and his friend allegedly pushed him off the roof following a fight over how the loot would be split.
Police further said that on Tuesday, the school’s security guard allegedly spotted the body and fearing that it may lose his job -- as the murder had transpired during his watch -- he allegedly threw the body into the sewage tank. Both the security guard and the man’s friend have been arrested, police said.
According to the police, a call was received at Kalyanpuri police station on Wednesday afternoon reporting a foul smell from the sewage tank of the school in Block 7, Khichripur. A police team reached the spot and fished out a man’s decomposed body from the tank. The body was shifted to the mortuary and a case of murder was registered, police said.
Deputy commissioner of police (East) Jasmeet Singh said the deceased was identified as Mohammad Aslam, a resident of the area. “When Aslam’s family members were questioned, his mother said he was last seen on Monday with his friend, Noor Mohammad, who also lives in the neighbourhood. A police team went in search of Noor and found him absconding,” Singh said.
The DCP said, meanwhile, an inspection of the crime scene revealed that Aslam’s body was wrapped in a plastic sheet, the kind that is used to pack school stationery. “This hinted at the involvement of someone from the school. The security guard, Raj Kumar, was questioned. He wasn’t able to tell us how the body reached the tank without his knowledge. He also kept changing his statement frequently,” the DCP said.
In the meantime, a police team managed to arrest Noor from his uncle’s house. “When he was questioned, Noor revealed that he and Aslam had gone to the school to steal mercury lights. “They climbed a tree and jumped over the boundary wall of the school. After stealing the lights, they had a quarrel over how the loot would be split. It soon got out of hand and Noor pushed Aslam to his death from the roof. Noor then fled from the spot, leaving behind the lights,” Singh said.
The DCP said when Kumar was confronted with the facts, he accepted that on finding the body, he fretted that he might lose his job as the murder had happened on his watch.
“He then decided to dispose of the body. He wrapped it in plastic sheets and dumped it in the sewage tank and then cleaned the spot where Aslam had fell,” the DCP said.
