Two labourers stumbled upon a limb while uprooting plants from a cavity between two walls at a house in Dwarka’s Dabri on Monday.
They immediately informed the houseowner who then called the police.
A skeleton of a man wearing a blue jacket was found buried at the spot, the police said on Thursday.
It is suspected to be of 24-year-old Jai Prakash who was reported missing in February 2016, they said.
The police registered a murder case on Tuesday and started investigation.
They suspect the involvement of Jai’s uncle Bijay Kumar Maharana, who is absconding.
The incident came to light when the 87-year-old houseowner and Janakpuri resident Vikram Singh was renovating the balcony of his rented accommodation in Dabri’s Chanakya Place.
He told the police that he had rented the third floor of the house to Bijay, who claimed that he was from West Bengal, in late 2015.
“Bijay used to live with his nephew Jai. Both of them worked in the private sector and mostly ate outside,” Mr. Singh said.
Two months later, Bijay told Mr. Singh that his nephew had failed to return home from work. The landlord asked him to approach the police, following which Bijay lodged a missing report on February 12, 2016.
“Jai’s mother also came to look for him. I had gone to the police station with them one or two times, but Bijay did not seem very worried. He also did not follow-up,” Mr. Singh claimed.
Asked for soil, plants
Around the same time, Bijay asked the landlord if he could get some soil and plants for the gallery. Mr. Singh agreed and Bijay then filled the cavity between the two walls in the balcony with plants, the police said.
After two months, Bijay vacated the house, Mr. Singh added.
The landlord said he rented the accommodation to a woman from Uttar Pradesh two months ago and recently decided to instal a railing in the balcony.
“On Monday, I asked two labourers to break the wall, and remove the plants and the soil. As soon as they did it, they found skeletal remains of a hand. They immediately called me and I informed the police,” Mr. Singh said.
The Station House Officer of Dabri police station and the crime team were called to the spot. The inspection was photographed and videographed.
“The skeleton was wearing a blue jacket. A blanket, blue polythene and pieces of a mattress were also found at the spot,” the officer said.
The description of Jai’s clothes given in 2016 matches with the ones found on the skeleton.
“The skeleton has been preserved for post-mortem at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital. Jai’s parents have been called. The DNA will be matched to ascertain if it is his skeleton,” the officer said.
Case registered
A case under Sections 302 (punishment for murder) and 201 (causing the disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered.
The police suspect Bijay’s involvement and said he may have lodged a fake missing report to mislead them.
