In a gruesome incident, a 32-year-old Ph.D. scholar from Manipur, Kashung Zingran Kengoo, was found brutally murdered at his rented accommodation in Kotla Mubarakpur on Wednesday night.
No arrests were made till late on Thursday evening nor could the motive behind the crime be established.
The victim’s throat was slit and head almost severed, recalled witnesses. The victim was unemployed and job search had brought him to the Capital, according to family members.
After completing his doctorate from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai, Zingran had shifted to Kotla Mubarakpur last month.
Phungshok, a representative of the Northeastern students in Delhi, said the occupant of the third floor of the house first spotted the body. “He noticed that the door was not bolted from inside. When he went inside, he saw Zingran’s body in a semi-decapitated state. There was blood all over the room and blood marks were visible on the door and the walls. He alerted the landlord who in turn informed the police,” said Phungshok.
The police sent the body for post-mortem and informed family members. A knife was also found from his room while his belongings were left untouched. According to the police, prima facie it did not appear to be a case of robbery and they were looking at it as a case of either personal enmity or sudden provocation.
Zingran’s brother Yorei, who lives in Chirag Dilli, said that he last spoke to his brother on November 8. “During that conversation, he did not bring up any such thing which could even remotely suggest that he was facing any kind of threat. My brother was a gentle and shy person, someone who had few friends but no enemies. I can’t even imagine him picking a fight with someone,” said Yorei.
The landlord is learnt to have told the police that one person visited Zingran on Tuesday evening, which was the last time he was seen alive. In the absence of any CCTVs in the area, the police are now looking into the call records of the deceased to trace those he was in contact with in the days leading up to his death.
“We have registered a murder case and probe is one,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (South), Prem Nath.
