Homeless man killed for stealing another’s crutches, selling it for liquor

Selling his friend’s pair of crutches to buy liquor cost a 40-year-old homeless man his life. The owner of the crutches along with an accomplice, both of them homeless,

Selling his friend’s pair of crutches to buy liquor cost a 40-year-old homeless man his life. The owner of the crutches along with an accomplice, both of them homeless, allegedly stabbed the man to death and crushed his face in with a stone on a pavement near a park in north Delhi’s Mori Gate on Thursday.

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Police said after killing the man, the duo slept next to his body as they were drunk and were not in a position to remove and dispose of the body.

The crime came to light on Friday when a sanitation worker spotted the body on the footpath and called the police. Both suspects, identified by their first names Karan,32, and Satish,26, were arrested and the knife used in the crime along with their bloodstained clothes were recovered, said deputy commissioner of police (north) Monika Bhardwaj. The dead homeless man was identified by his first name, Anil.

“The arrested men told us that Anil used to bully them. Anil had allegedly sold off Karan’s crutches in order to buy liquor for himself. The two were angry with Anil over this,” DCP Bhardwaj said.

A senior police officer associated with the probe said Karan and Satish hatched a plan to kill Anil. On Thursday, the duo purchased liquor and invited Anil to join them. They drank on the footpath near the park. When Anil became inebriated, the two allegedly stabbed him and then crushed his face with a stone.

“The two men then attempted to flee the scene. However, a night patrolling police team spotted them loitering on the road and asked them to stop wandering about. The two returned to the crime spot and slept next to the body on the footpath,” the officer said, requesting anonymity.

He said the policemen were unaware of the murder or the body on the pavement.

The two men later escaped from the scene early Friday morning. Around 7.30am, the sanitation worker spotted the body and informed the police. A murder case was registered and the man’s identity was established.

During the probe, Karan and Satish emerged as suspects in the case. The two were questioned but they denied their role. “It was only when the night patrolling team identified them as the same men who were loitering around the crime scene the previous night that they broke down and admitted to the crime,” the officer said.