Chopped body in fridge: Missing friend may have planned bartender’s murder in Saket, say cops

elhi Police on Sunday continued to look for clues to piece together the sequence of events that might have led to the killing of Vipin Joshi, 30, whose chopped body was recovered from Saidulajab a day before. Police said that Joshi’s ‘close friend’ and co-worker Badal Mandal, who is absconding, continues to remain the prime suspect in the case.

Delhi Police on Sunday continued to look for clues to piece together the sequence of events that might have led to the killing of Vipin Joshi, 30, whose chopped body was recovered from Saidulajab a day before.

A Delhi Police officer carries the meat cleaver that was apparently used to kill 30-year-old Vipin Joshi and chop his body iN Saket. (Sanchit Khanna/HT PHOTO)

Police said that Joshi’s ‘close friend’ and co-worker Badal Mandal, who is absconding, continues to remain the prime suspect in the case.

Investigators at present think that the murder could have been a “crime of passion” and suspect that the crime was planned in advance.

Joshi’s body was found chopped in three pieces and stuffed inside a refrigerator at Mandal’s first floor rented flat in Saidulajab, an urban village in south Delhi’s Saket on Saturday evening. Joshi, a bartender, had gone missing five days before his body was discovered. His head was found inside the freezer while the limbs were kept on the upper tray in the fridge that was kept switched on. The remaining trays had been removed to accommodate the torso. The body parts had started to decompose as the fridge was not shut properly .

Chinmoy Biswal, additional DCP (south), told Hindustan Times that five teams are working on the case, though they are yet to make a breakthrough. “We are looking for Mandal as only his questioning can reveal what actually happened at the flat and who butchered Joshi’s body. A team is being sent to Mandal’s hometown in Purulia, West Bengal, to locate and nab him,” said Biswal.

A senior police officer close to the probe said that a meat cleaver, that was apparently used to hack Joshi’s body, has been recovered from the flat. The officer said that after butchering Joshi, his killer had wiped off blood stains from the floor and walls using water. The meat cleaver was also washed. Some tablets were also found from Mandal’s flat, said the officer.

“The body parts were stuffed in big black polythene garbage bags. The garbage bags were purchased from a local shop two days before the murder,” said the officer, adding that they also found some stale food and alcohol bottles from the flat, which indicated that the men had consumed alcohol but did not eat food.

Asked why they consider Mandal as their prime suspect, the officer said, “Firstly, the murder took place at his flat that was found locked when we reached there after neighbours and Joshi’s brother complained of a foul smell. Secondly, Badal left the building on Tuesday afternoon and his phone is switched off since Wednesday night, after Joshi’s brother contacted him and asked about his missing brother.”

The building’s security guard, Sunil Kumar, told the police that while leaving the premises, Badal had insisted that he keep his flat’s keys, without giving a valid reason. However, the guard refused to accept the keys. The police are also puzzled as to why Mandal had sent his wife to their hometown on the night before Dusshera.

The victim’s brother said that during the 17-minute telephonic conversation, Mandal initially told him that he was in Purulia and his brother had come to drop him at Saket Metro station. “Later, he claimed that my brother had told him that he would go to Haridwar. When I asked Mandal to come to Delhi, he said he won’t come before October 23 and then disconnected the call. He mobile phone is switched off since then,” said Mahesh, the victim’s brother.