5 drummers held for murdering man who constantly bullied them for money

A 23-year-old man, who allegedly bullied and extorted money from five drummers in his neighbourhood, was bludgeoned to death with a spade allegedly by the five men on Tuesday evening, police said.

A 23-year-old man, who allegedly bullied and extorted money from five drummers in his neighbourhood, was bludgeoned to death with a spade allegedly by the five men on Tuesday evening, police said.

Police said the five allegedly attacked and killed the man, a habitual criminal according to the police, at a public park in south Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar 2. (File photo for representation)

Police said the five allegedly attacked and killed the man, a habitual criminal according to the police, at a public park in south Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar 2. All five suspects were arrested on Wednesday and the murder weapon recovered, they said.

Deputy commissioner of police (south-east) RP Meena said on Tuesday around 6pm, the police control room received a call that a man’s body was lying in Lala Lajpat Rai Park. A police team reached there and found that the dead man had sustained severe head injuries. A bloodstained spade was found near the park’s gate.

“The caller was the security guard of the park. he told us that he had gone to buy vegetables from a nearby vendor. When he returned, he found the man lying dead and called the police from the vegetable vendor’s cellphone. A case of murder was registered at the Lajpat Nagar police station,” said an investigator, who did not want to be named.

Police said that the dead man was identified as Akif, a habitual criminal listed at the Lajpat Nagar police station, and involved in nearly 20 cases of robbery and snatching.

Since there was no eyewitness to Akif’s murder, the investigating team scanned the CCTV footage from around a dozen cameras installed in the park’s vicinity.

“In some of the footage, the suspects were seen running into a lane near the park around the time of the murder. Their images were shown to locals who identified them as residents of an adiwasi camp in Nehru Nagar. All five were arrested on Wednesday,” the officer added.

The arrested persons were identified by their first names Rakesh,24, Rahul,22, Shyam, 24, Mukesh,24 and Mahesh,22. All of them are drummers by profession and played in wedding bands and at other social or religious gatherings.

During the interrogation, the DCP said the five men revealed that on Tuesday afternoon, they were playing cards with Akif in Lajpat Nagar-2. Akif demanded ₹100 from each of them for buying liquor. When they refused, Akif slapped Rakesh and went away, he said.

“Since Akif often bullied them and extorted money from them, the drummers decided to take revenge. They followed Akif for nearly 300 metres and accosted him near the park. They picked up a spade lying nearby and hit him on the head twice, killing him on the spot,” the investigator said.