NEW DELHI: A 75-year-old man was killed after being repeatedly hit on the head with hammers and pliers during a robbery at his Freedom Fighter Enclave home in south Delhi’s Sainik Farm area on Wednesday. Two people have been arrested while one suspect is absconding, said police.The victim, Satish Kumar Bharadwaj, was a retired MCD engineer and lived alone on the ground floor of his two-storey house in Block A1. While one of his sons works for an IT firm in the US, the other is an army brigadier and posted in Mau. His daughter stays in Vaishali.The accused, Ravi Kumar and Dharmender, are brothers and residents of Paryavaran complex. Cops have recovered the victim’s silver kada, a small silver khadau and coins, two hammers as well as cutters allegedly used in the crime. Some cash is suspected to be missing.According to Rajesh Sharma, a family member, Bharadwaj’s domestic helpers Lajwanti and Ramu arrived at the bungalow around 7.30am and began knocking on the front door. Failing to get a reply, they alerted other residents, one of whom informed the victim’s family.Ramu’s son Anand said he also came to the house to pick up a gas cylinder, but no one opened the door. “I, along with other residents, took a ladder and went up on one side of the house. From the window, I saw him lying on the ground near his bed,” he said, adding that the entire place had been ransacked.Upon receiving a PCR call at 8.15am, a police team reached the spot, entered Bharadwaj’s bedroom and found him lying in a pool of blood with serious head injuries.Bharadwaj had recently installed another gate on the ground floor for safety, said Sharma. Investigation revealed the accused had entered the house from a gate in the basement at the back. “Both the wooden doors at the back were broken. One of the planks of the first gate was completely destroyed. The accused then broke the lock of the other door,” a relative said.Police said there was a scuffle between the accused and the victim, after which they attacked him with pliers. Cops suspect the murder took place between 12am and 2.20am. “They may have attacked Bharadwaj when he was sleeping, but he fought back. After the murder, they were in the house for one hour,” an officer said.During the probe, it was found that a few days ago, whitewashing had been completed on the first floor, where a family used to live as tenants.”Plumbers and electricians had come that time. When CCTV footage was scanned, cops saw a few men, and one of them looked like a painter. Following this, two people, including the painter, were apprehended,” the officer said.Joint commissioner of police (southern) Meenu Choudhary said the duo confessed to the crime. The conspiracy began on February 10 and they had also conducted a recce.Ravi, who was involved in the whitewashing, was the main conspirator, police said. “He noticed the victim was living alone and was wealthy. He also involved his brother and other associates in the plan. He thought several lakhs were kept in the house,” the officer said. Cops are also probing whether the accused had tried to kill him earlier.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/retd-mcd-engineer-75-murdered-in-delhis-sainik-farm-area/articleshow/98164286.cms
