A man was arrested for allegedly killing his neigbhour after the two had an altercation over sharing beer and a cigarette, the police said on Monday.
The accused has been identified as Prem Chandra from Uttar Pradesh’s Fatehpur, they said.
Body found on July 18
The police said the body of the victim — who was later identified as Justin — was recovered on July 18 from inside a shanty near National Archive, Janpath where the labourers lived. The victim worked at a construction site near Rajpath, the police said. During enquiry, the police learnt that the victim had a fight with Premchandra, who too was a labourer at the same construction site. Both had assaulted each other during the quarrel. The accused, who fled the spot after the fight, also received injuries on his head, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Eish Singhal.
Following this, a case of murder was registered at Parliament Street police station, he said.
Since the accused did not have a mobile phone, he used to make necessary calls through other labourers’ devices. However, during a combing operation on the lawns along the Rajpath, the accused was found hiding behind a tree near, he added.
During interrogation, the accused said Justin had hit him with a beer bottle on his head. Following this, even he hit the victim with a brick and a hammer multiple times on the face. When the injured fell unconscious, he hid him under a bed and fled the spot, the DCP added.
The police claim to have recovered broken glasses of the beer bottle and bloodstained brick from the spot. The bloodstained hammer has also been recovered at the instance of the accused, the police added.