New Delhi, A refusal to pay a fare of around ₹ 1,000 triggered a quarrel inside a van that turned fatal when a driver beat the passenger with bricks and an earthen-pot-like object before dumping the body on the roadside in the Naraina area here, police said on Saturday.
During questioning, accused Rajinder Kumar alias Annu, 59, told police that he picked up the deceased from IFFCO Chowk in Gurugram, Haryana, in the van on August 17, an officer said. The dispute broke out during the journey over payment of the fare, allegedly around ₹ 1,000, according to police. After committing the crime, he called his wife, Kamini Makhija, 50, and son, Laksh Makhija, 28, to hide the body, police said. Police reached the spot and found an unidentified man, aged around 35 years, lying naked and blood-stained on the pavement near the wall of a government school. “Teams analysed around 500 CCTV recordings and noticed a Maruti Eeco moving suspiciously in the vicinity around the relevant time.
The passenger allegedly refused to pay, leading to a quarrel inside the vehicle in West Delhi, police said. Rajinder allegedly assaulted him with bricks and an earthen-pot-like object, inflicting fatal injuries, police said. The officer said the two allegedly assisted him in concealing the deceased’s clothes and dealing with the vehicle used in the crime. Police learned about the incident when the Naraina police station received a PCR call about the body in the Naraina Vihar area, the officer said. 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.
All three were subsequently arrested on Friday night.
“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.
