A day after chopped body parts of a 30-year-old man were found inside a refrigerator at his friend's rented accommodation in South Delhi's Mehrauli, deceased Vipin Chand Joshi’s family members supsect his friend’s role in the murder. “We suspect Badal Mandal to be behind his murder,” said Vipin's uncle Hari Joshi.
Hari said Vipin has been living in Delhi for the past eight years. A native of Bageshwar in Uttarakhand, he is survived by his wife and two-and-a-half-year-old daughter
Hari told The Pioneer, "Vipin was a soft spoken person. Three years back, his brother Mahesh came to live with him. On Monday evening at around 4pm, Vipin was last seen with his colleague Mandal."
Police suspect that the motive behind Vipin's murder could be a love affair. However, family members denied this angle and said Vipin was working hard day and night to earn money for his wife and daughter. On Saturday morning, neighbours in Saidulajab area raised alarm when they found stench emanating from Mandal’s house.
locals informed police that for the last five days, Vipin was missing. "When Vipin did not take our calls, we informed the local police. We also looked for him. It was later that we found out that Vipin was last seen with Mandal. Both used to work in a private restaurant in South Delhi. Vipin used to work as a bar tender.
Badal works at the kitchen.”
A senior police officer said, "Vipin’s family had filed a missing report two days ago at Mehrauli police station after which teams were formed to locate him. The officer said, "During investigation, it was revealed that he often used to visit Mandal's house which is a few streets behind his own but when it was checked, it was found that he was on leave since October 8."
When the investigation began, Badal's house couldn't be located for two days. However, on Saturday, when it was located, the house was found locked from outside and a foul smell was emanating from it.
Police said they have formed teams to trace Badal, who has emerged as the prime suspect.