'Man beaten to death in Swaroop Nagar was mentally unstable'
NEW DELHI: When 28-yearold Shankar was seen loitering around a haystack godown in Swaroop Nagar by a group of men, they immediately suspected him of being a thief.
When they confronted him, an agitated Shankar started abusing them and eventually got involved in a scuffle. The group then beat him to death with sticks. Police found that Shankar was, in fact, mentally unstable and had been undergoing treatment for the past few years for his ailments.
North-west District police rounded up five people and, after through questioning, arrested four people, namely Andip, Subhash, Anoop and Harender. The arrested told police that Shankar became agitated when they questioned him in a normal tone and it was he who initiated the fight.
“The area where Shankar was roaming around was notorious for thefts. The accused told us that several car batteries and other items had been stolen. So when they spotted him, they suspected that he was stealing,” said DCP Northwest, Milind Dumbre.
The case came to light on Sunday night when Shankar's body was found lying in an open field in Vijay Chowk area with multiple injury marks.
Police had detained five people, who said that after thrashing him, his body was moved to the field, 400m away from the spot of the incident, so as to destroy crucial evidence.
Shankar's sister, Manju, was unaware of her brother's death and was informed by neighbour. She reached the spot where around 200 people had gathered and found her brother lying in the field.
She later informed the police about her brother's mental condition and claimed that he was under treatment as he was mentally unstable.
“Manju told us about his condition. Later, she also provided several documents detailing his medical prescrip- tions. We are looking into the documents to verify her claims,” Dumbre added.
Police are now trying to determine the exact sequence of events, but facing problems as they have to rely on eyewitness accounts and statements of the accused. Whether Shankar acted out of his illness or was he actually stealing from the godown is yet to be ascertained.
Police were also tight-lipped about the profile of the accused and have said that more people may be involved in the case. “We charged the accused under sections of murder and destruction of evidence. More arrests may follow,” Dumbre added.