Crash case turns murder

Late on January 4, Jagdish Verma, an inspector with power distribution company BSES...

Late on January 4, Jagdish Verma, an inspector with power distribution company BSES, left office at 9.10 pm. He never did return home; his body was found at Rajbir Colony in east Delhi8217;s New Ashok Nagar, barely 100 meters from his house.

An open-and-shut accident case, the police thought, and registered a case of death due to rash driving. Even Verma8217;s family believed so, for 8220;he had no enmity with anyone,8221; son Dharmendar said.

Until the postmortem report came in.

At Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital, the coroner recovered a bullet from the neck of Verma, 53, during autopsy.

A murder case has been registered now.

A senior police officer told Newsline: 8220;Verma was found on the ground, his body facing the right; he had his helmet on. The bike was lying a few meters away, in the direction he was facing. It looked a clear-cut accident case.8221;

The police began investigations after registering a case under IPC Sections 279 rash driving and 304A death due to negligence against unknown people.

On January 5, the day after his body was found, Verma8217;s family protested outside LBS Hospital after doctors said the post-mortem could not be done since it was a Saturday. 8220;The next day was a Sunday and they would not have conducted the post-mortem then,8221; Dharmendar said. 8220;We had to perform our father8217;s last rites, and the case was getting prolonged.8221;

Under pressure from the local police and protesting family members, the coroner conducted the post-mortem and recovered a rifle8217;s bullet. 8220;The bullet was wedged on the back of the neck; the depth of its wound shows it was fired from a very close range,8221; a police officer said.

The case immediately turned into murder, under Section 302 IPC.

Story continues below this ad

Ten days on, the police are still not clear about the motive 8212; there was no robbery, and Verma8217;s family said he had no enmity with anyone. Police suspect the assailants killed Verma in such a way that it looked like an accident.

Dharmender said, 8220;My father also worked as an electrician and we often sat together at our Kalyanpuri shop. That day January 4 he had an evening shift and after sitting at the shop till 3.30 pm, he left for office. He also withdrew Rs 26,000 from the ATM. He had borrowed the amount earlier, and said he would return it on way to office.8221;

The police said Verma left his office 8212; BSES, Ashok Nagar 8212; at 9.10 pm. His body was discovered at 11.15 pm.

Verma lived with wife and five children 8212; two sons and three daughters 8212; in A-block, Rajbir Colony.