Body found in sand container used as blockade in farm stir, 30-year-old arrested

A 30-year-old homeless man was arrested for allegedly murdering another homeless person by assaulting him with stones and a stick, and then burying his body in an iron container filled with sand on the GT Karnal Road stretch leading to Mukarba Chowk near Bhalswa Dairy in outer Delhi. The police said the murder took place on the festival of Holi, on March 25, and the decomposed body was discovered on March 27.
The container was part of a series of containers hired by the Delhi Police on February 13 from private contractors to use as blockades to prevent protesting farmers of Punjab and Haryana from entering the capital.
The police said that while the containers were monitored through CCTV cameras and by ground personnel, the deployment was minimised in mid-March as the threat of farmers storming the capital decreased. However, the containers were retained as a precautionary measure.
“The contractors and their employees check these containers every morning. The container inside which the homeless man’s body was found was also checked by the contractor on the morning of March 26, but nothing suspicious was found. The next morning the staffers opened the container to a foul smell. They removed the sand, found the man’s body and informed the police,” a police officer said.
Deputy commissioner of police (outer-north) Ravi Kumar Singh said a police team from the Bhalswa Dairy police station took charge of the body, which was decomposed and had no visible injuries. After estimating the age of the victim to be 40-45 years, they sent the body to Babu Jagjivan Ram Memorial hospital’s mortuary for preservation. A case of murder and destruction of evidence, under sections 201 and 302 of the IPC, was registered.
The police said that analysis of CCTV footage showed two men entering the container, with only one exiting it after some time. They checked footage from around 60 cameras installed in the vicinity and identified the victim and the suspect as homeless persons living around Transport Nagar.
“Inquiry revealed that the 45-year-old dead man was known in the neighbourhood as ‘Kejriwal’, a moniker that he got from local people. The suspect was identified as Virender, alias Kaliya, alias West Indies. The two used to sleep on the road dividers of the national highway,” the DCP said.
On April 11, a special staff team led by inspector Pawan Yadav received information that the suspect was seen near the GT Karnal bypass. A team raided the area and caught Virender after a brief chase and scuffle. He confessed to the murder and said he was angry as the victim had lost an iron cutting blade that he had borrowed.
“Virender started assaulting the victim from near Labour Chowk at Samaypur Badli and took him to the container spot at the GT Karnal Road, in front of Bhalswa Khatta, which is nearly 500 metres away. After killing him, Virender hid his body in the sand and fled,” said DCP Singh.