IIT-aspirant arrested for Delhi teacher’s killing

NEW DELHI - A teen-aged youth was arrested for murdering his landlord, a retired school teacher, in his home in a south Delhi locality Sunday, police said Tuesday.

Devendra Kishore Joshi, a retired Sanskrit teacher, was found murdered in his home in Vasant Kunj area around 8 a.m. Sunday. He had been hit on his head and stabbed in the neck with a pair of scissors. The rear door of the house was ajar and some valuables were missing, police said.

The 17-year-old IIT aspirant from Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh, who cannot be named as he is a minor, killed Joshi as he was caught stealing jewellery and valuables from his house in March this year. Though Joshi did not press charges, he asked the boy’s parents to cough up Rs.3 lakh.

“We detained the boy from his uncle’s residence in Gurgaon early this morning. He is from a well-to-do family. His father is a businessman while his sister is pursuing second year MBBS,” Deputy Commisioner of Police (south) H.G.S. Dhaliwal said here Tuesday.

The accused used to live as a tenant at that time. The deceased had a few more young tenants and bonded well with them, a senior police officer said.

According to Dhaliwal, the boy came to Delhi last Thursday, armed with a khukri (a Nepali short bent knife).

He then procured a wig from a beauty parlour in Kalkaji, run by one of his friends.

“He told one of his school friends that he could arrange a job for him and went to his house to take his motorcycle. He also arranged some interviews for him. The teenager then took him to Vasant Kunj on the pretext of collecting some money,” Dhaliwal said.

Joshi, who had gone out for shopping, found the boy outside his flat on his return. The teenager pushed his way inside the house and stabbed him with the knife.

“The khukri got damaged as the boy hit the teacher. Then he stabbed him with scissors. He also searched the house and laid his hands on whatever he could find. He returned to where his friend was waiting for him with a laptop, three wine bottles and a mobile phone in a bag,” Dhaliwal said.

Joshi shifted to his Vasant Kunj home seven years ago. He was living alone after his wife died in 2008. His son is working as an engineer in New Jersey, US.

Dhaliwal added that Joshi was not registered with the senior citizen’s cell.

“However, our beat constable used to meet him regularly. We were also aware of the theft that took place in March though no case was registered. Joshi did not want to get registered with the cell as he was supposed to join his son in New Jersey soon, he said.

The murder came to light when the victim’s son called him up several times Sunday morning. As the calls were not responded, he asked a relative to visit his father. The relative found Joshi lying in a pool of blood.