Two arrested for killing man with hammer over Dwarka house sale dispute
The Delhi Police have arrested two men for allegedly bludgeoning a 38-year-old man to death with an iron hammer near Kargil Chowk in Sector 18A, Dwarka. The body of the victim, Akhilesh Mandal, was discovered on July 12 between a road and a drain, prompting a murder investigation that eventually led to the arrest of suspects Anil Thakur, 66, and Raju Kumar, 28.
According to the police, Mandal had been residing at the Dharampura, Najafgarh home of Thakur, who works as a security guard at a private bank. Frequent arguments had reportedly broken out between the two men due to Mandal's alcohol addiction.
The conflict escalated when Thakur decided to sell his house, a move that Mandal allegedly opposed. On July 10, Thakur called Mandal to Sector 13 in Dwarka. From there, Thakur and Kumar, a cleaning helper from Bihar, allegedly took Mandal to the spot near Kargil Chowk and assaulted him with an iron hammer, causing fatal head injuries.
Following the attack, both suspects fled to Dharampura. Investigators stated that Thakur, who was acquainted with Mandal's family, deliberately misled the victim's relatives after the murder. This deception prevented them from filing a missing person report, which delayed the identification of the body.
When Mandal's body was first recovered on July 12, it had visible tattoos and a severe head injury, but no identification documents were found on him. Officers at the Dwarka North Police Station registered an FIR and formed specialized teams to track down the killers.
To identify the victim and trace the suspects, the police team analyzed footage from nearly 500 CCTV cameras around the crime scene and adjacent routes. They also utilized technical surveillance to reconstruct the events.
After establishing Mandal's identity, the police arrested Thakur and Kumar. Investigators recovered the weapon of offence, which was a blood-stained iron hammer, along with the victim's mobile phones. The police stated that further investigation into the case is currently underway.
