A man was strangled to death and his body stuffed inside mattresses and blankets, before being thrown into a plastic bag outside a factory in west Delhi’s Moti Nagar area, while police arrested his brother and sister-in-law, an official said on Tuesday.
The defendants told investigators that they killed the man after prolonged disagreements over his objectionable behavior toward the woman.
A tattoo reading ‘Amit-Kiran’ on the decomposed body, found on April 4, proved to be the breakthrough clue that helped investigators identify the victim and solve the case after an over two-month investigation that included examining footage collected from more than 300 CCTV cameras and raids across multiple states.
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The official said that the accused Gopal (32 years old) and his wife Suma alias Seema (35 years old) were arrested after the police tracked their movements through technical surveillance, call detail records and verification of their relatives and associates.
The case came to light when the police received information about a suspicious white plastic bag lying outside the factory gate on Rama Road, near Prem Nagar Fatak.
After searching, the police found the decomposed body of a man wrapped in two mattresses and two blankets in the bag. Police said the victim’s legs were tied with a mobile phone charger cable.
The body was sent for an autopsy, which revealed multiple bruises to the neck, a fracture of the hyoid bone and a blunt force injury to the head. Doctors determined that the cause of death was suffocation due to manual strangulation accompanied by a head injury, and declared the death a homicide.
While examining the body, investigators noticed a tattoo reading “Amit-Kiran” on the victim’s right arm after removing the decomposed layer of skin. Police said the tattoos had become a decisive factor in identifying the deceased.
A murder case was registered, and investigators began investigating the possibility that the victim was killed elsewhere, before his body was dumped at the place.
A special team conducted extensive investigations in labor colonies and slums across Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) and examined footage collected from more than 300 CCTV cameras.
During the investigation, police located an e-rickshaw that was allegedly used to transport the body. The driver and two workers who transported the mattresses and blankets were tracked down and interrogated.
Their statements led investigators to a rented accommodation in Indrapuri, Loni, Ghaziabad. Police said that a forensic examination of the building led to the seizure of blood-stained documents.
The ongoing investigation eventually established the identity of the deceased as Amit Kumar. The police later discovered that the rented accommodation was occupied by the deceased’s younger brother, Gopal, and the latter’s wife, Soma.
According to investigators, the couple evacuated the building immediately after the accident and hid.
Police arrested them on June 15 near the railway track at Shiv Basti on Rama Road.
During sustained interrogation, it came to light prima facie that Kumar was addicted to alcohol and often behaved in an unacceptable manner towards Soma, the police said.
According to investigators, the deceased allegedly tried to exercise authority over Soma as if she were his wife, made unreasonable demands and sought to have a physical relationship with her.
The police said that the accused repeatedly objected to his behavior, which led to frequent quarrels and strained relations within the family. The preliminary investigation indicates that the ongoing dispute arising from the alleged behavior of the deceased was the direct provocation behind the murder.
Gopal was remanded in police custody for further interrogation and recovery of evidence, while Soma was sent to judicial custody.
Police said further investigations are underway to determine the exact sequence of events and collect additional evidence in the case.
