In 91-yr-old Delhi man’s murder, probe throws up more questions than answers

The decision to use a refrigerator to discreetly move the body of Kishan Dev Khosla from his house in Greater Kailash to the burial site was taken on the spur of the moment, police said.

Having exhumed the body of the 91-year-old man from a plot in south Delhi’s Sangam Vihar late Monday night, police on Tuesday said that the killers had planned the killing a month ago. But, despite this, the decision to use a refrigerator to discreetly move the body of Kishan Dev Khosla from his house in Greater Kailash to the burial site was taken on the spur of the moment, said Parvinder Singh, additional deputy commissioner of police (south) [ADCP].

A file photo of Krishna Khosla, who was killed at home and his body carried in a fridge (Sourced)

Through Monday, police arrested five suspects, including Khosla’s full-time domestic help and alleged mastermind, 25-year-old Kishan.

Singh quoted Kishan as claiming that he had killed Khosla for “scolding him frequently”, and to rob him. However, Singh said other motives were still being probed.

“Kishan had taken a small house on rent in Sangam Vihar on August 28 and dug a five-foot deep pit nearby,” said Singh.

Kundesh Gupta, a resident of the Sangam Vihar neighbourhood, said, “They said they were constructing a water storage tank. Since Sangam Vihar grapples with water problems, we believed them,” said Gupta.

ADCP Singh said that the probe revealed that Kishan had offered tea laced with sedatives to Khosla and his 87-year-old wife, Saroj, Saturday.

“Once the couple were unconscious, Kishan called five of his associates who arrived in a goods carrier owned by Sangam Vihar resident Pradeep Sharma,” said Singh.

While Sharma was also arrested, his neighbour Brijpal Upadhyay said that he may not have been aware of the murder plot. “When some people (the murder suspects) had approached Sharma at 5 pm on Saturday to hire his goods carrier, he turned it down saying that it was a no-entry time (for goods vehicles in the city). But they said that they would bear the challan, if caught,” he said.

“Kishan strangled Khosla, but spared Saroj as she treated him well. But they had not decided on how to transport the body without anyone noticing. So, they emptied a double-door refrigerator of the Khosla family, stuffed the body in and drove away,” said the officer, adding that the police awaited Khosla’s autopsy report.

Singh said that the men buried the body in the pit. “In between all this, they also used Khosla’s ATM cards to withdraw ₹40,000,” said Singh.

The police arrested Kishan and another suspect from Uttar Pradesh, and three others from Delhi. At their instance, the location of the body was identified.

Singh said that several questions have remained unanswered. “It is surprising that they made so much effort to move Khosla’s body in a refrigerator when they could have left it at the murder spot and escaped,” said ADCP Parvinder Singh.