In a sensational incident, 39-year-old lawyer Rajeev Sharma was beaten to death by the caretaker of an eatery and his two employees inside the Tis Hazari Courts complex in North Delhi on Thursday night. The eatery, Chaudhary ka Dhaba, which belongs to another lawyer, was leased out to the caretaker identified as Dhanna Ram Chaudhary (48).
The lawyer’s body was discovered at 7.30 am on Friday near his chamber number T-30 by a security guard. He immediately contacted Secretary of Delhi Bar Association DD Sharma, who informed the police. Senior officers of the North district police investigated the murder and arrested Chaudhary and his two employees.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) North Madhur Verma said it appeared to be an open and shut case and all the three accused have been arrested. The murder weapon — a blood soaked iron pestle — has been recovered from the eatery located a few metres from Sharma’s chamber and further investigation is underway, the DCP added.
As the news of the murder spread, lawyers of all the six district courts in Delhi abstained from work protesting security lapses which, they claimed, led to the death of Sharma in the court complex. The coordination committees of all district bar associations decided to observe a day-long strike and demanded proper security in and around the court complex.
Advocate Sanjeev Nasiar, president of Tis Hazari Courts Bar Association, said lawyers met the district judge and demanded that more CCTV cameras be installed in the court complex. He said there was no CCTV camera in the area where Sharma’s body was found. Delhi Bar Association members alleged that there was some conspiracy behind the murder. Police officers involved in the investigation said they were investigating the conspiracy theory too.
However, preliminary investigations by the police found a trail of blood starting from the eatery and leading up to the chamber of the lawyer. Investigators got hold of Chaudhary and his two employees Dileep and Bam Bahadur and interrogated them. “When the eatery employees were questioned, they tried to mislead the police but later broke down and confessed to the crime,” said a police officer, adding that the caretaker Chaudhary and his two employees have been arrested on charges of murder.
The accused told the police that Sharma had drinks in his chamber late on Thursday night and asked the eatery for salad to go with the liquor. However, as it was midnight and the dhaba was closed his request was denied. This lead to a heated argument that took an ugly turn after Chaudhary picked up an iron pestle and hit Sharma on the head. The assailant was aided by the two workers in the assault and the lawyer died on the spot.
“He was drunk and insisted that they give him the salad even though the dhaba was closed. When they turned his request down he slapped one of the workers and an argument broke out which soon turned into a scuffle. Chaudhary hit him on the head with an iron pestle and Sharma died on the spot,” police said. Chaudhary and the two employees then dumped Sharma’s body near his chamber and tried to wipe out the evidence by washing the floor of the eatery. Sources said that Sharma, who was accompanied by a minor girl, had drinks in his chamber. Police also did not deny the presence of a girl and said that they were verifying the facts and investigating the case from all possible angles.
Sharma, a resident of Rohini is survived by his wife and two children. Police said at around 8.30 pm, he left for home in an auto-rickshaw after meeting a client in East Delhi’s Bhajanpura. But he changed his mind on the way and went to Tis Hazari court and also called his wife to say that he would not be coming home as he had some work in the office.
However, Nasiar questioned the police probe and even suggested that it may be a bigger conspiracy than what the cops are giving out. “It seems unlikely that someone like Sharma would go alone in the night to the dhaba and then misbehave with them. We suspect that the police is hiding something and there could be more involvements,” Nasiar told The Pioneer.