NEW DELHI: Tattoos on a man whose face was mutilated beyond recognition helped Delhi Police identify him and crack a revenge murder case, leading to the arrest of three accused.The victim has been identified as Chandan Saini, 34, a resident of Nehru Vihar in north Delhi. His body, bearing multiple stab wounds, was found in the Yamuna Khadar area of Wazirabad on May 21, news agency PTI reported.Police said Saini’s face was severely disfigured, making identification difficult.However, a tattoo with two names and a symbol on his hand provided a crucial clue. The image was circulated locally, enabling police to establish his identity.Further verification revealed that Saini was a listed bad character of Timarpur police station and had been previously involved in five cases of snatching, burglary and theft.An FIR for murder was registered at Wazirabad police station, and joint teams were formed to investigate the case and trace the accused, PTI reported.Police scanned CCTV footage from the victim’s neighbourhood and routes leading to the crime scene. Footage showed Saini boarding an autorickshaw outside his house on the intervening night of May 20 and 21.Although the vehicle’s registration number could not be identified, police established that Saini had willingly left with the occupants, an officer said.A breakthrough came during the questioning of Surjeet alias Bacchi, an associate of the deceased and also a bad character of Timarpur police station.He told investigators that Saini had a long-standing enmity with Tarun alias Tanni and frequently abused him and his friends, police informed.He further disclosed that on May 18, two days before the murder, Saini and his associates had allegedly assaulted and attempted to abduct Tarun’s brother, Saurabh, during a quarrel.Police later found that Tarun’s cousin Sunny Mahajan from Amritsar and his friend Dheeraj had also gone missing after the incident.The trio evaded arrest for over six weeks, moving across Mumbai, Amritsar, Katra in Jammu, Haridwar, Loni in Ghaziabad and other locations. They frequently stayed at gurdwaras and returned to Delhi around 10 days before their arrest, taking shelter near Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib in Chandni Chowk.On July 5, acting on a tip-off, police arrested Dheeraj from Loni in Ghaziabad. Based on his interrogation, Tarun and Sunny were arrested later the same day from a mortuary in north Delhi, officials said.During questioning, Tarun confessed to planning the murder to avenge the attack on his brother.Police said Tarun, along with Sunny and Dheeraj, hired an autorickshaw and picked up Saini from his residence on the pretext of consuming liquor.The accused allegedly assaulted him inside the vehicle before taking him to a forested stretch near Yamuna Khadar, where they stabbed him repeatedly and killed him. The accused then fled Delhi and kept moving between states to avoid arrest.Further investigation in this regard is currently underway, officials said.(With agency inputs)
