New Delhi, Jan 26 Four youths, who conspired to kill a 14-year-old boy for not repaying a Rs 18,000 debt to them, have been arrested, while three others, including the alleged shooter, are still at large, a Delhi Police official said on Thursday.
The arrested accused were identified as Harshit, 21, Vikram, 19, Vipin, 20, and Pankaj, 19.
Deputy Commissioner of Police, Outer North, Devesh Kumar Mahla, said that two PCR calls were received on January 22 about a dead body in a drain in the Shahbad Dairy area, and a police team reached the spot and found the body of a teenage male in the drain behind E block.
"The body was taken out and the crime team and a team from Forensic Science Laboratory called to examine the spot. The deceased was having an injury on his head," he said.
"During investigation, while trying to ascertain the identity of the deceased, police checked kidnapping cases registered at Shahbad Dairy and nearby police stations and the deceased was found to be matching the description of the missing boy registered in an FIR on January 19," the official said.
The parents of the boy were called and identified the body as of their 14-year-old son named Manjeet, who had went missing on January 8. His parents lodged an FIR on January 19.
The police added IPC's Section 302 (punishment for murder) to the already registered FIR and began probing the matter.
Police said that four suspects Harshit, Vikram, Vipin, and Pankaj were zeroed down and then apprehended.
On interrogation, it was revealed that both Harshit and Vikram are siblings and run a garment shop in the Shahbad Dairy area.
"The deceased used to buy clothes at their shop and had not paid for them. He had also borrowed some money from them. In total, he had to pay Rs 18,000 to them. Whenever they asked for their money back, ge used to make excuses and even threatened to implicate them in a false case. Subsequently, they decided to eliminate him," the DCP said.
In the intervening night of January 9 and 10, the four accused, along with their three other friends, hatched a conspiracy to take revenge and kill him, he said, adding they called Manjeet to their shop.
When the accused asked for their money back, a quarrel ensued and one of the accused, named Chenta, who had a country-made pistol, fired at Manjeet, killing him.
"Later, they disposed of the body at E block drain and threw the blood-stained clothes in a drain near Sector 11 Rohini," the DCP said.
He said that three other accused, including the man who fired the shot, are still at large, and efforts are on to nab them.
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