As Delhi Police uncovered an almost perfect murder and placed Anees Kumar, 24, under arrest, they explained on Wednesday how a novice had almost managed to get away with the crime.
Anees worked as an assistant surveyor at the Survey of India, where Mahesh Kumar, 42, too was a senior surveyor. Last year, Anees had flaunted his connections in thegovernment and claimed he could get people jobs. Mahesh had some acquaintances who were looking for employment and asked Anees to get jobs for three of them. Anees agreed but demanded Rs 3 lakhfor each person. The jobs, however, never materialised and Anees sought time to repay the money he had taken.
Amid all this, both the men were also infatuated with the same female co-worker in their office.
Last month, Mahesh began to pester Anees for repayment of the money. With his finances in dire straits, Anees hatched a plot to kill Mahesh so that he could keep both the money and the woman.
In preparation for the crime, Anees took a five-day leave from office. In various markets in south Delhi, he procured plastic sheeting, wrenches and a shovel. He then went to his hometown in Sonipat, Haryana, where he left his phone to establish his presence there.
On August 28, he invited Mahesh to his apartment in RK Puram Sector 2, saying he would give him the money. Instead, he bludgeoned Mahesh with the wrench. After the murder, Anees uploaded a WhatsApp status on Mahesh’s phone saying he was going underground because he was unable to pay a Rs 65 lakh loan. Then, Anees left his apartment with the air conditioner running and travelled to Faridabad with Mahesh’s phone. He dumped it there to mislead the investigators and returned to Sonipat.
Mahesh’s family approached police to report him missing. A probe was initiated. Anees, meanwhile, returned to Delhi after thinking of how to get rid of Mahesh’s body. He borrowed a colleague’s key to a house located near a sewer in RK Puram Sector 6, which usually remained vacant. He duplicated the key and returned the original.
He buried Mahesh’s body in a two-foot-deep ditch in the courtyard and summoneda plumber to construct a platform over the burial site.He stood there for about 12 hours as the plumber – now a witness for police – built the platform.
The cops had been scouring areas in Faridabad where Mahesh’s phone indicated he last was present. An internet protocol details records analysis led the investigators to discover that Anees had last spoken to Mahesh on WhatsApp. During a search of Anees’s house, the cops found Mahesh’s car key. “Anees told us Mahesh had visited him but returned home, leaving his car keys behind. Anish also met Mahesh’s family and assured them of full cooperation in tracing the missing man,” said a police officer.
Sustained interrogation backed by technical and circumstantial evidence caused Anees to accept his guilt and to lead the cops to the spot where he had buried the body. He was booked for murder, destruction of evidence and abduction.
An officer said, “The victim’s body was exhumed from the apartment complex. We have seized Rs 5 lakh in cash, two vehicles and the murder weapon.”
