Delhi minor murdered in grudge killing

A27-year-old man has been arrested here for killing a minor boy over a grudge against his parents, police said yesterday.

Police said the accused Avadhesh, arrested on Monday night, is familiar with the victim’s family and is a distant relative. He stayed in a neighbouring house near the victim — seven-year-old Ashish — in Swaroop Nagar in west Delhi.

“Avadhesh told police Ashish’s parents used to abuse him in his absence and did not like his visits to their house,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Aslam Khan told IANS.

“He killed Ashish after calling him to his room on the pretext of gifting him a cycle. He then asked Ashish what does his father [Karan Singh] thinks about him. When Ashish replied that Karan asked him not to visit his house, Avadhesh smothered him to death, wrapped the body and placed it in a cupboard. He, however, pretended to be a wellwisher before Ashish’s family,” she added.

“He did not try to dump the body as he knew CCTVs are installed in the streets. Instead, he killed some rats and placed them in his room. When asked about the stink, he showed one of the rats,” she added.

He also bought some perfume, room fresheners and incense sticks to suppress the stink. He slept 37 days on the same bed under which he placed the cupboard with the body, police said.

“He was planning to dispose off the body in an isolated place so that he could later make a ransom call of Rs1.5 million (Dh85,579) ,” the police officer said, adding: “We have recovered the body and sent it for post mortem.”