Two men found dead inside drain near IIC, third associate arrested

Police arrested their third associate, Md Ateeque (25), Tuesday night after the two bodies were recovered. The deceased were identified as Md Khurshid (31) and Sajjad Ahmed (34).

Police alleged Khurshid had earlier been caught stealing cables near Niti Bagh, Hauz Khas, and was booked in a robbery case in 2017. A year earlier, Ateeque was booked in an Arms Act case.

DCP (New Delhi) Amrutha Guguloth said police received a PCR call from a man named Md Ashab, who said he found the bodies of his cousins in the drain.

“We reached the spot and the man complained that his cousins had been missing since three-four days. Khurshid’s family called and asked him to look for them. Ashab met Ateeque, but he didn’t help. It was only when he threatened to approach police that Ateeque told them to go to Lodhi Estate,” said the DCP.

CCTVs were scanned and police found that the three men reached IIC on March 18. The three went inside the drain, but Ateeque came out soon after and closed the lid.

The DCP added, “We found footage where it was clear that Ateeque was at the spot with the deceased and had covered the lid. We took him into custody and he confessed to the crime. He also revealed that after the incident, he again went back to the spot to collect his belongings and hide any evidence.”

An autopsy was conducted at Ram Manohar Lohia hospital to ascertain the cause of death. Ateeque has been booked for double murder and misleading police by tampering with evidence.

Family members of the deceased said the two men lived alone in Delhi, while their family lives in Arariya, Bihar.

Ashab, Sajjad’s cousin and Khurshid’s distant relative, who also lives in Delhi, said, “Khurshid was supposed to go home on March 18 for Shab-e-Barat celebrations. His mother called and told me that he and Sajjad weren’t taking calls. I went to their room and spoke to their friends, Alauddin and Ateeque. Both of them didn’t say anything.”

“We kept searching and later suspected Ateeque. He was avoiding our questions. I threatened to go to the police, which is when he said they might be at Lodhi Estate… trapped somewhere. I was scared and took him to the spot. We opened the lid of a drain and found two bodies floating inside. Ateeque looked scared. I called police and told them everything,” said Ashab.

Khurshid’s family alleged that Ateeque had killed their son over money.

“They had issues and would often fight. We told Ashab to question Ateeque when Khurshid went missing. He has three young girls aged around eight, six and four. We are all in Bihar and can’t do anything,” said Margoob, his cousin.

Sajjad’s brother, Hashnin, said he was the sole breadwinner of the family ever since his father’s death. “We don’t think he’s involved in the robbery. He recently got married and has a three-month-old baby. He would often say he wants to go back to Bihar. Ateeque might have pushed him to do this,” claimed Hashnin.