A 50-year-old businessman in Karol Bagh was on Monday stabbed to death by a former neighbour who was nursing a grudge against him.
The deceased, Ishwar Lal, ran an embroidery business and lived in Regarpura. He was out on his morning walk when he was attacked by 24-year-old Mahesh. The entire incident was captured on CCTV camera, which helped the police in tracking down and arresting Mahesh near Liberty Cinema within hours of the brutal attack. Footages also established that there were several eyewitnesses to the fatal attack, but no one came forward to intervene and save Mr. Lal’s life. Others were apparently taken by surprise as the incident happened within a matter of seconds.
According to the police, it was around 7 a.m. that Mr. Lal received a call from his driver who informed him about his car glasses being shattered.
“Within minutes, he reached the spot where he was attacked by Mahesh who had been waiting for him,” said a police officer.
In a bid to save his life, Mr. Lal tried to run into a temple but Mahesh pounced on him and stabbed him repeatedly leaving him in a pool of blood. Mr. Lal managed to crawl out of the temple, but collapsed near his house, said a police officer. Mahesh then drove away in a Hyundai Santro car he had come in.
A few passers-by gathered around an injured Mr. Lal, who was bleeding profusely. The police was subsequently informed and the victim was taken to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital where he was declared brought dead.
Mahesh who now lives in Inderpuri was Mr. Lal’s neighbourhood till a few years ago. He was identified by eyewitnesses as the man who attacked the businessman. Other residents of the area said that Mr. Lal often had arguments with Mahesh as he objected to the latter’s behaviour in public. The issues, they said, ranged from Mahesh’s alleged alcoholism to his driving rashly on the road.
Soon after the attack, a case of murder was registered and a hunt was launched to nab Mahesh. Based on a tip-off, the accused was arrested near Liberty Cinema in the afternoon.
During interrogation, Mahesh purportedly admitted to having murdered Mr. Lal. “He told us that he had been planning to eliminate the victim for a while as he blamed Mr. Lal for forcing his family to shift out of Regarpura. He initially waited for his target to come out of the house for a morning walk, but later decided to break his car glasses to make that happen quickly,” said the officer.
