Delhi: Dairy trader killed, dumped in well by employee who wanted salary hike

Prakash’s decomposed body was found in the well in an agricultural field on Saturday morning, about 10 days after he was killed and dumped

A dairy trader (45) was murdered and dumped in a 50-foot deep well in West Delhi’s Najafgarh, Delhi Police said on Monday.

On Sunday, the suspect, Mohammad Tasleem, was nabbed by the Dwarka district police authorities from Jharoda Kalan in West Delhi, soon after he returned from Panipat in Haryana.

The police have arrested the assistant of the slain dairy trader Om Prakash. The police said that the dairy trader was murdered, as the assistant was allegedly disgruntled with him for not raising his monthly salary.

Prakash’s decomposed body was found in the well in an agricultural field on Saturday morning, about 10 days after he was killed and dumped.

On Sunday, the suspect, Mohammad Tasleem, was nabbed by the Dwarka district police authorities from Jharoda Kalan in West Delhi, soon after he returned from Panipat in Haryana, where he was hiding at a relative’s house, said Anto Alphonse, deputy commissioner of police (DCP), Dwarka, Delhi Police.

“He has revealed that he killed his employer following a heated argument over not raising his monthly salary,” said the DCP, adding that a stick and a knife was allegedly used in the murder.

The murder weapons and Prakash’s motorcycle that Tasleem had used to decamp a day after allegedly committing the murder have been seized by the police, the DCP said.

Prakash, a bachelor, lived in Najafgarh’s Dhichaon Kalan, which is notorious for its criminal antecedents. He ran a dairy business along with his nephew, Purushottam.

“My uncle had decided to hire a help because we were overburdened with work. On June 23, we hired Tasleem, who had earlier worked at a restaurant,” said Purushottam.

Tasleem was hired for a monthly salary of ₹12,000, even though he had demanded ₹15,000, he said.

But the DCP quoted Tasleem as saying that he was hired for ₹15,000, but was being paid ₹12,000 by Prakash who cited losses due to the pandemic for not keeping his word.

The monthly salary amount became a constant source of friction between the deceased and the arrested accused, he added.

Another argument occurred between the duo on the night of August 11, said Purushottam, who had to intervene to end the quarrel.

The following morning Prakash was found missing, said a police officer probing the case. “Tasleem misled the family by saying that Prakash had left town. But by evening, when he realised that the probe would lead the police to him, he rode away on Prakash’s motorcycle,” said the DCP.

“We registered a kidnapping case and started looking for Tasleem and searching for Prakash,” he added.

On Saturday morning, Prakash’s decomposed body was found in the 50-foot deep well in the agricultural field near the place, where ran his dairy business. “The owner of the field had visited the farmland following a stench emanating from the well. Later, Delhi Fire department authorities sent personnel to fish out the decomposed body that was half stuffed in a sack and tied with a rope,” the official said.

Soon, the police tracked down Tasleem in Panipat. “Tasleem has confessed to his crime. He recounted that Prakash had slapped him during the quarrel. An enraged Tasleem, in turn, thrashed him with a stick and then slit his throat with a knife while he was sleeping,” he added.