A store supervisor was allegedly murdered because he had failed to pay the bill of a meagre Rs 180. The deceased, Deepak Singh (35), was a resident of the Airport Authority quarters. Deepak was allegedly murdered by restaurant staff as they were angry over his failure to pay the bill.
The incident took place on the night of April 23 when Deepak along with his uncle and cousin went to have dinner at a restaurant in INA market. Deepak and his cousin left after finishing the meal while their uncle was still at the restaurant. The uncle was asked to pay the bill but he could not do so as he did not have the money. Deepak requested the hotel staff members to take the money from his house as he stayed close by. Around that time nine members from the restaurant staff accompanied him to the house. Few held Deepak and beat him up all the way. Two members accompanied him to his house while the rest stood down. They took the money and left.
After a while the family heard screams and rushed down to see Deepak thrown down near the car. He had broken pieces of pipes in his hand to which he might have clung onto to save himself while he was thrown downwards, a family members said.
“I had held the man in the black t-shirt when he was coming down the staircase. He had a hammer in his hand. He also attacked me with the hammer and also scratched me but my other cousins came for help and help him too” said Deepak’s sister.
Family members alleged that Deepak was badly injured with his forehead split and flesh missing from his calves. The cousin who had accompanied Deepak for dinner said that few restaurant people were following them after they left the restaurant. They started running and when they had reached the colony gate they disappeared. They also added that Deepak’s family in the hustle bustle also caught one of the accused with the hammer in his hand and later handed him over to the police. Even thought the PCR call was made police took time to reach the spot and by that time the family in their personal vehicle had already taken Deepak to nearby AIIMS hospital.
“The police showed carelessness in collecting the evidence as they had not put any barriers for the people not to enter. The officials were also trying hush up the case by giving it a suicide angle. The police officials are not even answering the phone calls. We got the body on Thursday only after which we could do the cremation. The police had earlier arrested three people but we later saw them roaming in the area. The Crime Branch team only arrived on Thursday,” said a close family member.
A case of murder was registered at Kotla Mubarakpur police station. Deputy Commissioner of Police, South district, Chhaya Sharma said that they have registered a case of murder under section 302 and are waiting for the post-mortem examination report.
As of now it does not appear to be a case of homicide, though a case of murder has been registered on the complaint of family members. The police would conduct a dummy test to verify the trajectory of the body as the police feel that in case of four persons lifting and throwing, Deepak could have fallen a bit far.