NEW DELHI: A refusal to pay a fare of around Rs 1,000 led to a quarrel inside a van that turned fatal after the driver allegedly assaulted a passenger with bricks and an earthen-pot-like object before dumping his body on the roadside in Delhi’s Naraina area, police said on Saturday.During questioning, accused Rajinder Kumar alias Annu, 59, told police that he had picked up the deceased from IFFCO Chowk in Gurugram, Haryana, in the van on August 17, an officer said.According to police, the dispute over payment of the fare, allegedly around Rs 1,000, broke out during the journey.The passenger allegedly refused to pay the fare, leading to a quarrel inside the vehicle in West Delhi, police said.Rajinder allegedly assaulted him with bricks and an earthen-pot-like object, causing fatal injuries, police said. After the incident, he allegedly called his wife, Kamini Makhija, 50, and son, Laksh Makhija, 28, to help hide the body, 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. All three were arrested on Friday night.Police learned about the incident after the Naraina police station received a PCR call regarding a body in the Naraina Vihar area, the officer said. Police reached the spot and found an unidentified man, aged around 35, lying naked and blood-stained on the pavement near the wall of a government school.Police said the man had suffered a deep injury on the right side of his head, along with multiple injuries on his body. Blood scattered around the spot indicated that he had been violently assaulted.“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.The crime team and Forensic Science Laboratory team inspected the scene and collected evidence before the body was shifted to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead. Police registered an FIR and began the investigation.As the deceased’s identity was unknown and there were no apparent eyewitnesses, police examined CCTV cameras installed around the crime scene and along roads leading to and from the area.“Teams analysed around 500 CCTV recordings and noticed a Maruti Eeco moving suspiciously in the vicinity around the relevant time. 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.Police eventually identified the vehicle as a Maruti Eeco and traced and apprehended its owner, Kumar, a resident of Naraina village. The van was recovered at the instance of Kumar’s wife Kamini, while the deceased’s clothes and shoes were recovered following information provided by his son, Laksh.Police said they are examining the vehicle as an important piece of evidence to establish the sequence of events leading to the killing and disposal of the body.The officer said the deceased’s identity has not yet been established and further investigation is underway.
