Delhi: Man beaten to death over Rs 1,000 fare dispute, body dumped in Naraina
A disagreement over an unpaid fare of roughly Rs 1,000 escalated into violence inside a van, ending in a passenger's death after the driver allegedly beat him with bricks and an earthen-pot-like object before leaving the body on the roadside in Delhi's Naraina area, police said on Saturday.
During interrogation, the accused, Rajinder Kumar alias Annu (59), told police he had picked up the deceased from IFFCO Chowk in Gurugram, Haryana, on August 17, an officer said. Police said the altercation arose during the ride over payment of the fare, believed to be around Rs 1,000.
The passenger allegedly refused to pay, sparking a quarrel inside the vehicle in West Delhi, police said.
Rajinder allegedly attacked him using bricks and an earthen-pot-like object, causing fatal injuries, police said. Following the assault, he allegedly contacted his wife, Kamini Makhija (50), and son, Laksh Makhija (28), to help hide the body, police added.
According to the officer, the two allegedly helped conceal the victim's clothing and deal with the vehicle used in the crime. All three were arrested on Friday night.
Police became aware of the incident after the Naraina police station received a PCR call reporting a body in the Naraina Vihar area, the officer said. On reaching the spot, officers found an unidentified man, approximately 35 years old, lying naked and covered in blood on the pavement near a government school's boundary wall.
The man had sustained a deep wound on the right side of his head, along with several other injuries on his body, police said.
The scattered blood at the site pointed to a violent assault.
"Investigators also noticed a distinctive heart-shaped tattoo with an arrow on the victim's left forearm, bearing the names 'Anand' and 'Renu', which became an initial clue in establishing his identity," a senior police officer said.
The crime team and Forensic Science Laboratory personnel examined the scene and gathered evidence before the body was moved to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead. Police registered an FIR and launched an investigation.
With the victim's identity unknown and no witnesses immediately available, police turned to CCTV footage from cameras around the crime scene and along nearby roads.
"Teams analysed around 500 CCTV recordings and noticed a Maruti Eeco moving suspiciously in the vicinity around the relevant time. The registration number was not initially clear, prompting police to track the vehicle through multiple cameras and reconstruct its route before and after the incident," the officer said.
Police eventually traced the vehicle to a Maruti Eeco and identified its owner as Kumar, a resident of Naraina village, before apprehending him. The van was recovered based on information from Kumar's wife Kamini, while the deceased's clothes and shoes were recovered following details provided by his son, Laksh.
Police said the vehicle is being treated as a key piece of evidence to establish the sequence of events that led to the killing and disposal of the body. The officer added that the victim's identity remains unconfirmed, and the investigation is ongoing. (with inputs from PTI)
