Five days after the body of an elderly man was found in outer Delhi’s Munak Canal with a wire tied around his neck, the police on Friday arrested his nephew for the murder.

A pocket diary found on the body had helped the police identify it.

According to the police, the nephew, identified as one Sanjay, killed his uncle following a domestic quarrel. He also allegedly wanted to grab the man’s property which he had recently bought in Sonepat, Haryana, the police said.

The police said the body was found in the Haiderpur water treatment plant on April 22. During the investigation, a pocket diary that was found in a dilapidated condition from the deceased’s pocket, helped the police establish the man’s identity as Sunder Kumar of village Garhi Brahmanan in Sonepat, Haryana.

Deputy commissioner of police (outer north) Gaurav Sharma said that following days of technical surveillance and questioning several people known to the decesed, they zeroed in on the man’s nephew Sanjay.

“He was detained for questioning, during which he confessed to have killed his uncle. He said he was fed up of his uncle’s quarrelsome behaviour as he had become an alcoholic. He also said that Sunder had been living away from his family for the past 15 years and had sold his ancestral property, so that no one could claim it after him,” the deputy commissioner said.

Sanjay told the police that Sunder had recently purchased some property in Sonepat.

“He said he feared that his uncle would sell off this property as well to fuel his addiction to alcohol. In order to grab the property, he planned to kill Sunder. He cut a piece of electric cable wire and took Sunder to a secluded stretch near Munak Canal on the pretext of visiting a relative in Rohtak. He strangled him and threw his body in the canal,” the deputy commissioner said.

First Published: Apr 28, 2019 03:57 IST