Delhi tattoo artist murder: He was killed for ‘insulting’ financier, say cops

Tattoo artist Babloo Kumar’s decapitated body was found on a vacant plot around 1.30 am on Sunday by his elder brother and friends who had been looking for him.

A tattoo artist, whose headless body was found in east Delhi’s Pandav Nagar on Sunday, was allegedly killed because he referred to his financier as, “Tu” (an informal way of addressing a person) instead of “Aap” ( more respectful, though in English both translates as ‘you’) when he demanded his money back, police said on Tuesday. The financier, a 25-year-old stockbroker, and his two accomplices who assisted him in the murder were arrested early Tuesday.

The headless body of a tattoo artist was found in east Delhi’s Pandav Nagar on December 16, 2018. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Tattoo artist Babloo Kumar’s decapitated body was found on a vacant plot around 1.30 am by his elder brother Sonu, a fruit vendor, and friends who had been looking for him. Kumar had left his house around 9pm last Monday and had not returned home.

A day after the murder came to fore, on Monday, deputy commissioner of police (east) Pankaj Kumar Singh had formed five teams to investigate the case and at least 30 people known to Kumar were detained for questioning.

Singh said, “Three of his friends, Inderjeet alias Bobby (27), Prashant Mishra (25) and Ankit Sharma (19), who were seen with him last Monday, were also called. We noticed that Bobby had a cut on his hand, which seemed to have been inflicted by a sharp knife. Bobby’s version of events was also different from that of the other two. When we questioned him, he failed to give us satisfactory replies and was then subjected to sustained questioning.”

During a meeting between the two last week, Mishra asked Kumar for his money and Kumar allegedly spoke to Mishra in a rude manner, referring to him repeatedly as ‘Tu’ instead of ‘Aap’, which led to a heated argument between them. Mishra had felt insulted, Singh said.

“Since Bobby and Sharma had also lent him money in the past, which Kumar had allegedly not returned in time, all three planned to teach Kumar a lesson. While Mishra arranged for two cleavers, used by coconut water vendors, the other two called Kumar to a vacant plot to have drinks together,” the officer said.

Singh said when Kumar arrived there with Bobby and Sharma, Mishra also joined them and all four had drinks. “After Kumar became inebriated, Mishra stabbed him multiple times and then they cut his head off. They hid the body in the bushes and left it to rot there,” the DCP said, adding that the police have recovered the bloodstained clothes of the accused and the weapon used in the crime.

Police said Mishra, a resident of Patparganj village, is a graduate and a local stockbroker. He hails from Jaipur in Rajasthan and had come to Delhi a few years ago to build a career in the stock market. Sharma is a school drop out while Bobby is a tempo driver, police said.