Delhi Police has had to put its probe into the murder of a 22-year-old robber by his four associates on ice as the accused told the police that they dumped the body into a drain.
The accused told the police that they dumped the body in a drain at the Dussehra ground at Pillanji Village, but police have been unable to recover it from the 1.2 km-long drain. To add to the police’s woes, the Sewage Maintenance Department of New Delhi Municipal Council wants them to cough up a whopping Rs 50 lakh for filtering the drain, forcing the police to stop the probe.
Sources said the Investigation Officer of Sarojini Nagar Police Station had written a letter to the Superintendent Engineer of the Sewage Maintenance Department in November, apprising him of the situation. “Police sought the help of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) in the= recovery of the body at the earliest as it is crucial evidence in the case,” the sources added.
The NDMC official wrote back explaining the procedure involved in detail. “He wrote that the drain is around 1.2 km-long and passes through Sarojini Nagar, Kotla Mubarakpur, Khairpur, Aliganj some areas of Chanakyapuri and laxmibai Nagar. The cost of desilting the drain in which the body has
been dumped would be around Rs 4,500 to Rs 5,000 per metre, which would cost the police approximately Rs 50 lakh,” police sources said.
After receiving the reply from NDMC, officers of the Sarojini Nagar Police Station informed their seniors, but as no decision has been taken so far the investigation has been put on hold and the officers are awaiting directions from their seniors.
The whole drama began when four robbers, Amit Mandal (22), Rohit (22), Naveen (22) and Dheeraj Rai (21) were arrested by a team led by Station House Officer (South Campus) Aishvir Singh last year.
“The robbers told the interrogators that they had committed several robberies and also murdered one of their associates due to personal enmity and dumped the body in the drain,” sources said.
The investigation was later transferred to Sarojini Nagar Police Station as the drain in which the body was dumped falls under their jurisdiction. “They had to search for the relatives of the victim as no missing complaint was lodged by the father of the victim who lives in Ghaziabad. After registering a separate case of kidnapping and murder, they procured the police remand of the accused persons,” sources added.