Man kills colleague, buries body in backyard of empty house in Delhi’s RK Puram
Police said Anish Kumar murdered the colleague to avoid repaying a ₹9 lakh loan and to avenge lewd remarks the latter purportedly passed at a woman the former was in a relationship with
A colleague allegedly killed a 28-year-old man, wrapped his body in plastic bags, and buried it in the backyard of an empty house in New Delhi’s RK Puram to avoid repaying a ₹9 lakh loan and to avenge lewd remarks the latter purportedly passed at a woman the former was in a relationship with, investigators said and added the murder could be linked to a job scam.
Investigators said Anish Kumar, 24, the accused who is from RK Puram, tried to mislead the family of Mahesh Kumar, who went missing on August 29, by putting up a WhatsApp status through the latter’s phone suggesting his disappearance was linked to his inability to repay ₹65 lakh debt.
Deputy police commissioner (southwest) Manoj C said Mahesh Kumar was a resident of Haryana’s Jhajjar who worked with Anish Kumar, who was arrested on September 2, at the national mapping agency Survey of India’s office in Sarojini Nagar.
Police said a day before he was reported missing, Mahesh Kumar called his wife and told him he was going to meet Anish Kumar in RK Puram. The accused later claimed Mahesh Kumar had come to his house before leaving to meet another person after leaving his car and its keys with him.
Police said Mahesh Kumar’s family suspected something amiss as minutes after his brother spoke to the accused, the WhatsApp status was put up saying he had ₹65 lakh debt and was “leaving” but would return and reply. The family said they were unaware of the debt.
Anish Kumar confessed to killing his colleague when he was picked up for questioning since he was the last person to have met Mahesh Kumar. He told police that Mahesh Kumar took money from people on the pretext of getting them jobs in Survey of India. Anish Kumar claimed Mahesh Kumar took ₹65 lakh but failed to get jobs. “There is no proof to back Anish’s allegations... when he was interrogated about his own role in this job scam, he broke down and confessed to killing Mahesh,” said an investigator aware of the matter.
Anish Kumar told police that he took ₹9 lakh from Mahesh Kumar and did not want to pay it back. He also harboured a grudge against Mahesh Kumar for speaking to his girlfriend and allegedly passing lewd remarks at her.
Investigators said Anish Kumar made a “foolproof plan” for the murder. “...Anish managed to get the keys to the house to hide the body. He planned where he would get the weapon for murder and polythene bags to pack the body...he bought the weapon a few days before the murder,” a second investigator said.
On August 28, he allegedly called Mahesh Kumar on the pretext of returning his money and attacked him fatally with an iron pipe. He later went to South Extension to buy five plastic bags to wrap the body. The accused shifted the body to the empty house a day later. “He dug the area where sewer work was underway in the backyard and buried the body,” the second investigator said. The accused also kept Mahesh Kumar‘s two phones. “To mislead Mahesh’s family, Anish put a status that Mahesh was in debt and was leaving.”
Anish Kumar led police to the burial site. Police also recovered ₹5 lakh cash, two vehicles used for the crime, and the murder weapon.
