New Delhi: A faint tattoo hidden beneath decomposed skin proved to be the breakthrough the police needed to solve a grisly murder mystery in West Delhi. The inscription—Amit-Kiran—along with footage from over 300 CCTV cameras and tracing of a transport vehicle helped identify the body found stuffed between mattresses in April, and led investigators to the victim’s brother and sister-in-law, who were arrested for murder Monday.
The case goes back to 4 April, when a call was received at Moti Nagar police station about a suspicious sack lying outside the gate of a factory situated on Rama Road, Prem Nagar Fatak, in West Delhi.
The police reached the spot and found a large white plastic sack tied with rope and emitting a foul smell. “Upon inspection, the sack was found containing two mattresses and two multicoloured blankets that were wrapped around a decomposed body of a man aged 40-42 years,” DCP (west) Hareshwar V Swami said in a statement.
“The deceased was wearing blue jeans and a pista-coloured full-sleeve shirt. Both of his legs were tied with a mobile charger cable. Owing to the advanced stage of decomposition, no external injuries could be observed then.”
The body was preserved at DDU Hospital mortuary for identification and post-mortem. Relevant exhibits, including blood-stained mattress portions, rope sections, the cable and clothing of the deceased were seized by the police.
The arm tattoo
The post-mortem exam of the body subsequently revealed multiple bruises on the neck, fracture of the hyoid bone in the neck midline and blunt force injury to the skull. The cause of death was opined as “asphyxia due to manual strangulation associated with blunt force head injury”, according to the DCP’s statement.
During the examination, a tattoo bearing the words “Amit-Kiran” was also noticed on the right arm after removal of the decomposed skin layer. A murder FIR was registered.
The police investigation initially focused on identifying the deceased, a Delhi Police officer told ThePrint.
Extensive inquiries were conducted in the jhuggi clusters of Zakhira, Rama Road, Anand Parbat and adjoining areas. Photographs of the deceased were circulated among local residents and labourers, while more than 200 hue-and-cry notices were distributed and pasted at various locations across Delhi and NCR.
Simultaneously, an exhaustive CCTV analysis was undertaken. Footage from over 300 cameras installed at various locations in West Delhi was scrutinised, and several suspicious vehicles near the factory area were shortlisted. The police obtained their ownership details and interrogated their drivers, helpers and owners.
During CCTV analysis, a transport vehicle was also identified. Its driver, identified as Kasim from Loni, Ghaziabad, was traced and grilled and the vehicle was seized. He led the police to two labourers, Jai Prakash and Jagdish, who were examined.
“Their statements revealed that they had been hired to shift packed mattresses and blankets from a house in Indrapuri, Ghaziabad,” the DCP stated. The said premises were examined by a forensic team and blood-stained exhibits were recovered.
The landlord disclosed that the house had been rented by a couple named Gopal and Soma, both labourers, the police officer said, adding that the owner said both tenants had vacated the premises in a hurry.
Further inquiries by the police in the locality led to the identification of the deceased as Amit Kumar, also a labourer and brother of Gopal.
The police then moved to track Gopal and his wife with intensive technical surveillance involving CDR analysis, IMEI tracking and Aadhaar-based searches. The family members, relatives and associates of both persons were identified and interrogated. Extensive searches were conducted at multiple locations in Ghaziabad, Palwal, Kaithal, Najafgarh, Hathras, Etah and even in West Bengal’s Hooghly district.
The police said the couple were continuously changing their location but local intelligence finally helped track them down.
On Monday, following a tip-off, they were arrested from near the railway line in Khaddewali jhuggi in Shiv Basti, Rama Road.
On the basis of the couple’s interrogation and the investigation conducted so far, the DCP stated, it emerged that the deceased, Amit Kumar, was an alcoholic and frequently behaved objectionably toward Soma.
“He allegedly sought to exercise authority over her as if she was his own wife, made unreasonable demands from her and attempted to establish a physical relationship with her,” the DCP stated.
This conduct was strongly objected to by both Gopal and Soma, resulting in frequent quarrels and strained relations between the three, according to the police, and the persistent discord appears to have led the couple to murder Amit.
An FIR has been registered against them on murder charges.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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