Sacked driver found dead behind MP’s bungalow in South Avenue

Police said Saini owed money to a lot of people and it is suspected that a monetary dispute could be one of the reasons behind his murder.

Two suspected assailants murdered a 52-year-old jobless man in the servant quarters behind the bungalow of a Member of Parliament in South Avenue area on Friday, police said.

A view of a house where a person was allegedly found murdered last night at Delhi’s South Avenue area, which houses residences of Members of Parliament in New Delhi. (Amal KS/ Hindustan Times)

Suresh Saini had been sacked as driver of an MP for his alleged involvement in gambling and betting.

Police said Saini owed money to a lot of people and it is suspected that a monetary dispute could be one of the reasons behind his murder.

Police said they are probing the case from all angles and are yet to rule out or identify any person’s involvement in the murder.

Police are questioning many suspects, including a man from Jangpura, who runs a betting racket, and had recently lent about Rs. 1.7 lakh to Saini.

The deceased lived with his wife, a six-year-old son and two teenage daughters. Police said, Saini’s wife, Anju still works as a domestic help at the MP’s house so the family continued living at the same quarter even after Saini was sacked.

Saini’s friend, Sanjeev Kumar was the first who came to know of the incident. Kumar, who lives in the same neighbourhood, said Saini called him at 1.49 am when the two men fled his house after stabbing him and slitting his throat.

“He asked me to come fast and disconnected the call. My younger brother Gaurav and I rushed to his house. We found Saini lying near the stairs on ground floor. He was bleeding heavily from his throat. We rushed him to hospital and called the police,” Kumar said, adding that Saini called him because his wife had left her phone behind before stepping out.

Deputy commissioner of police (New Delhi) Madhur Verma said they received information about the incident at around 1am reporting that a man had been stabbed and rushed to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital where he died during treatment.

“At the crime spot, it looked like Saini had tried to escape the killers. From his house on the first floor to the stairs on the ground floor there was a lot of blood. His family members told us that he had an accident on May 23, which left him with a fracture in his leg. This could be a reason why he could not run away when he was attacked,” said Verma.

DCP Verma added that police have identified two men who had threatened Saini to return the money they had lent him. The officer said eyewitnesses have also seen two men with their faces muffled, leaving Saini’s house.

“Saini did not have a happy married life because he was jobless for five year. We have checked call records of his family members. We are not ruling out the possibility of involvement of an insider,” Verma said