Neighbours of Bajrang lal Bokadia (62), who was brutally murdered along with three of his domestic helps at his residence in Vivek Vihar area of East Delhi, blamed police for rise in crime incidents in the locality. They said the quadruple murder in their neighbourhood was the result of poor policing and sheer negligence of police.
Gaurav Singhal, who runs an electronic goods shop in the area, said that the local police puts barricades just outside Bokadia’s house every day and it is surprising how the policemen failed to notice any suspicious movement. Singhal had installed eight CCTV cameras at his shop-cum-residence, which is hardly 15 metres away from the scene of crime. “A theft had taken place at my shop in February. An FIR was lodged at Vivek Vihar Police Station, but police could not trace the accused, instead he was advised by the policemen to install CCTV cameras at his house. I followed the advice of the police, but even after that thefts occurred on August 9, 11 and 14. However, this time, police refused to lodge an FIR,” he said.
Meanwhile, police said following the preliminary investigation, it seems four persons, including a woman was involved in the murder of the businessman and his domestic helps. Prima facie, investigations revealed that Bokadia died due to asphyxiation, while the other three died due to excessive bleeding. Police sources revealed that he (Bokadia) had spoken to his brother-in law on Sunday evening and so the murders must have taken place at night.
“Bokadia had asked Pramod, his brother-in law, to send someone to collect the car keys that Pramod had asked for. Around 4:30 pm, his servant came to collect the car keys from Bokadia. However, the keys were handed over to him by an unknown woman. The servant informed Pramod about the woman. He then called Bokadia at around 5:30 pm, which went unanswered,” said a police official.
Police said that friendly entry to the house suggested some insider’s hand in the case. It could also be a case of personal enmity. He was also a property dealer and dispute related to it could have resulted to his such fate too. “All the four bodies were found in the master bedroom. The main door of the house was opened and the inside door’s latch was broken. The room was completely ransacked. We are yet to ascertain as to what all has been robbed. His wife has not arrived as yet and things would be clearer after we speak to her,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Ajay Kumar. A case of murder and robbery was registered, but now the case has been handed over to the Crime Branch.
Bokadia lived with his wife, who had gone to Rajasthan to attend a religious function. His daughter Preeti and son Pawan are both married and are settled in Mumbai. Soon after the incident, locals and people belonging to his religious community blocked the road and protested outside the house demanding suspension of the Station House Officer and claimed that this was result of inadequate policing in the area. A four-hour traffic snarl was caused as police had barricaded both the carriageways in Vivek Vihar Phase 2. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as well as BJP members also protested along with the residents.