Priest kills friend during drunken brawl, stuffs body in gunny bag in Delhi’s Palam

An officer said the two had been friends for the last one-and-a-half years; Kartik also knew Rama Devi (54), Devdas’s companion. “On October 21, Devdas invited Kartik to his house at night for a drink. Rama had gone to her hometown in Andhra Pradesh,” the DCP said.

Devdas lived on the second floor of a building he owned in Raj Nagar, a portion of which he had rented out.

“After a few drinks, Devdas allegedly hurled abuses at Kartik… Angered by this, Kartik took a chopper, which Devdas used to keep under his pillow, and killed him with it,” the DCP said, adding that the accused claimed Devdas had slapped him two to three times earlier as well.

Police said Kartik stashed the body in a gunny bag and returned home to change his clothes. “He then came back and slept at Devdas’s house. He kept coming to the flat every day till October 27 to turn on the water motor, which was Devdas’s responsibility, so tenants living on the top floor didn’t suspect anything,” an officer said.

On October 30, Devdas’s sister-in-law, Asha, made a PCR call, stating that a foul smell was emanating from his flat and that the family hadn’t seen him for a week. “On reaching Devdas’s residence, one room was found locked. The fire brigade broke the lock and a gunny bag with Devdas’s decomposed body was found,” the DCP said.

Police said Kartik, who went missing on October 27, was traced to his village in Uttar Pradesh’s Etah. “A raid was conducted and Kartik was arrested,” the DCP said.

Devdas’s nephew Vijay Sharma said, “He never fought with anyone though he used to get angry very easily… His source of livelihood was the rent he received every month.” Rama had been living with Devdas for the last 15 years, he added.

Police said it was she who first sensed something was amiss. “Rama called Devdas’s sister-in-law when she couldn’t reach him. After the murder, Kartik initially took her calls and told her Devdas had gone to Jaipur for work. Then her calls started to go unanswered,” an officer said.