Tension prevailed in Mayur Vihar phase-III on Thursday after a 15-year-old boy was allegedly thrashed to death by two juveniles, both sons of a paan(beetle) shop owner, in the main market of the area on Wednesday night. Police apprehended both the juveniles.
The murder and alleged police inaction triggered an outrage among the residents of Mayur Vihar. Some people took to the streets and set ablaze the paan shop. Armed police personnel were deployed to control the situation.
The deceased, identified as Rajat Menon, is a Class IX student of Salwan Public School in Mayur Vihar and hisfather Unni Krishnan (48) is a General Manager with Reliance Delhi zone. Rajat’s mother Krishna (42) is a housewife.
According to police, Rajat, along with his two friends Digvijay and Aryan, was returning from a local snooker parlour around 8 pm on Wednesday when he was accosted by the two accused near the paan shop.
A police official said paan shop owner Mishra’s two sons accused Rajat of stealing and asked him to return items he had taken from the shop. “When Rajat denied taking the items and said that another boy from R block in the area was behind the incident, they took him and his friends to the block where they did not find the boy. The accused called Rajat a liar and thrashed him brutally till he collapsed. When his friends tried to intervene, the accused pushed them away,” added the police official.
The accused rushed Rajat to nearby Malik health clinic on a bike. However, the hospital refused to admit him. “They then took Rajat to lal Bahadur Shashtri Hospital emergency where doctors declared him dead. The accused left the body and fled. Meanwhile, Rajat’s parents, who were alerted by locals, informed us about the incident,” said the official.
The deceased father said, “My son went to purchase something when he was cornered and beaten up. We know who are involved and we are awaiting the postmortem report.”
Meanwhile speaking to The Pioneer, Rajat’s uncle laxmikant Krishnan said that Rajat was aspiring to be a space scientist. “He got above 90% in his last semester. I remember he had told me that he wanted to be a space scientist. Rajat was fond of playing football and cricket very well. He was a very smart and well-behaved boy,” he said.
locals in the area alleged that Mishra’s paan shop sells drugs too. “From 8pm to 1 am in the night, people would flock the shop to buy drugs. Mishra’s men took away the drugs in front of police on Thursday morning after the murder,” they claimed.
During investigation, the police came across a CCTV grab in which they could spot Rajat and two of his friends on a scooter. They were approached by two men and one of them could be seen hitting Rajat twice.
Rajat is then seen parking his scooter and going towards a park with two of his friends and the two men who approached him.
In another CCTV grab which emerged later, police found the two teenagers rushing Rajat to a hospital.
Meanwhile, autopsy was conducted on the body and viscera preserved for further examination, police said.
Rajat’s family is from Pallakad in Kerala and had shifted to Mayur Vihar in Delhi two years ago. “Rajat’s father is my very close friend. We have worked together before in Aditya Birla Group and Jindal group. What has happened is a tragedy,” said Shankaran, Rajat’s neighbour.
Police registered a case under Sections 302 of the IPC and started investigating the matter. “We have apprehended the two juveniles and are questioning them. A case of murder has been registered and further investigations in the matter are on,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (East district) Rishi Pal.