The 22-year-old tattoo artist found dead here on Sunday was beheaded by three of his friends with machetes used to split open coconuts after he refused to return the ₹15,000 he had borrowed from them, the police said on Tuesday.
Prashant Mishra (25), Ankit Sharma (19) and Inderjeet (27) were arrested on Monday in connection with Babloo Kumar’s murder, the police said. Babloo’s headless body was found in the bushes in a vacant plot in Mayur Vihar on Sunday. His brother Sonu told the police that the victim had left home on December 10 and failed to return. Sonu initially did not suspect there was something amiss since Babloo would often not come home for days on end, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Pankaj Singh.
However, Sonu told his neighbours about Babloo on Sunday and asked them for help in finding him. They found his beheaded body in the afternoon, Mr. Singh said. There were several injury marks on the body. A case was registered.
Babloo was last seen with Inderjeet, Prashant and Ankit on December 10. The trio, who were interrogated, initially told the police they met Babloo in the evening and that he went away later without telling them where he was headed, Mr. Singh said. During interrogation, the police noticed that Inderjeet was injured. Their suspicions were aroused when he was unable to explain how he had injured himself. The accused ultimately confessed, Mr. Singh said. Prashant, who is a stockbroker, had lent Babloo some money. The victim later refused to return it. Inderjeet and Ankit too had a falling out with Babloo over money, he said, adding that all of them are addicts.
The trio hatched a plan to kill Babloo by luring him to an abandoned plot on the pretext of a party, Mr. Singh said. Prashant got hold of two machetes. The trio planned to kill Babloo once he was inebriated and leave the body at the abandoned plot, the officer said. Bloodstained clothes and the machetes used to attack Babloo have been seized, he added.
