A 57-year old man was thrashed to death by five people over a parking issue in Central Delhi’s West Patel Nagar area on Sunday morning. Three of the accused have been arrested by police.
The victim has been identified as Rajendra Bhatia, who resided on the ground floor in West Patel Nagar area along with his wife and two sons. He had sold the second floor of the building to one person identified as Karthik who had further given it on rent to a family.
Additional Commissioner of Police (Central) Alok Kumar said that a case under Section 304 (Culpable homicide not amounting to murder) has been registered at Patel Nagar police station against four persons. “Statements of the family members have been recorded. An FIR has been registered against five people out of whom three of them identified as Ashok Oberoi, Karthik and Dharmendra have been arrested by the police. Efforts are being made to nab the remaining accused. Section of trespass has been added as well,” said Kumar. According to the police, Bhatia’s son Mokshit parked his Hyundai Verna car in the passage leading to the staircase on Saturday night and he had an argument with the tenant identified as Prashant.
“Prashant told me to remove the car and said that he wants to walk straight and cannot go zig-zag since the car is parked there. He later threatened me that he will get the car removed. When I told him that this was not the right way, he apologized and went upstairs,” said Mokshit.
Narrating the ordeal, Mokshit revealed that on Sunday morning around 11:30pm, the family was sitting together and enjoying their Sunday. “Karthik, along with Ashok Oberoi a property dealer, his son Mohit Oberoi, their relative Abhishek alias Sonu and another property dealer Dharmendra entered their house along with 20 odd men. The moment we opened the gate, they barged in and started thrashing my father. They hurled kicks and blows continuously. We intervened and we were hit as well. My mother who tried to save also got beaten up. They did not stop and kept on hitting my father. They kicked him at his private parts as well. One of them finally gave him a severe blow on his chest and he collapsed on the ground,” added Mokshit. He was rushed to the Bl Kapoor hospital where he was declared brought dead.
Mokshit also revealed that in October last year, they had complained about the previous tenants as they used to bring anti-social elements home. “He had taken loan for my MBA and now that he is no more who will handle are expenses. My elder brother works with a private firm in Gurgaon,” added Mokshit.
Preliminary investigation revealed that Prashant, the current tenant, had complained to Karthik about parking problems and also that he was not allowed to access the terrace. The family members did not know the other rowdy elements that had come home along with the five main accused. Investigating officers revealed that a heated argument led to a scuffle in which Bhatia was thrashed. No external injury marks were discovered on the body. The body has been sent for post-mortem examination.