Delhi Police has arrested a barber in connection with the murder of a 23-year-old youth whose severed body parts were recovered from south-east Delhi's Ambedkar Nagar.
The accused, Mehboob Ali (37) allegedly killed Yogesh by hitting him with the head-rest of the barber's chair inside his shop on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday.
During interrogation, Ali revealed that he had lost money to Yogesh in gambling in the past and suspecting him of cheating in the game of cards, he decided to eliminate him, a police official said.
Ali contacted his brother Nazir, from his native place in UP, on Saturday for disposing off Yogesh's body. They chopped the body in pieces, put it in separate plastic bags and disposed it off at different areas in order to conceal the identity of the deceased, the official said.
Panic had gripped Ambedkar Nagar's Dakshinpuri area on Sunday morning when the deceased's legs and torso were found in plastic bags while the head of the body was missing.
During investigation, the deceased was identified by his father and upon questioning his family it was revealed that Yogesh was last seen with Ali on Friday night around 9 PM.
"It came to light that Ali runs a barber shop and is a known gambler of the area. It was also revealed that Mehboob and Yogesh were talking to each other in former's shop while the shutter of the shop was down," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (South-East) Mandeep Singh Randhawa.
Ali's shop was found shut and he was absconding along with his family since Sunday. Following sustained efforts, Ali was apprehended and subjected to interrogation during which he confessed to the crime, Randhawa said.
On Ali's instance, the third bag containing head, belt, footwear and wristwatch of the deceased and a knife was recovered. Further investigation is underway, he said.
