West Delhi shop owner burnt alive

A 50-year-old man was found charred inside his shop in west Delhi's Khayala on Friday. Police suspect that Vijay Arora's neighbours, with whom he was having a dispute over a common passage, set him on fire in the shop and fled.

A 50-year-old man was found charred inside his shop in west Delhi's Khayala on Friday.

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Police suspect that Vijay Arora's neighbours, with whom he was having a dispute over a common passage, set him on fire in the shop and fled.

"We got a call about a fire at an auto-parts shop in Khayala. The burnt body of a man was found in the shop," a police officer said.

"Initially, it appeared a case of suicide but circumstantial evidence suggested that Arora had been murdered," the officer added. Arora's body has been sent for post-mortem.

According to the police, Arora had been locked in a dispute for long with some vendors near his shop. The dispute, however, had been settled. This though did not deter his family members from alleging that the vendors were behind the murder.

Though no witnesses have come forward to give testimonies, investigators have revealed that four people went to the shop, poured kerosene on Arora and set him ablaze. They then downed the shutters of the shop and fled.

The owners of nearby shops had encroached on common passage, leading to the dispute.