Rtd major killed, 4 held

 An Indian Army Major (retd) and Vir Chakra awardee was killed in his sleep by his juvenile servant and three others at central Delhi’s West Patel Nagar during the early hours of Thursday. 

All the four accused who had decamped with jewellery after the murder were nabbed the same day.

The victim Rohit Sethi, who was associated with the BJP’s Army Cell, was also fed sedatives with his food on Wednesday night so that he could offer no resistance.The juvenile had been employed at the victim’s house only four days ago. The caretaker of a guest house run by Sethi on the second floor of the house had roped in the servant and two others to kill the retired major.

To kill Sethi, the caretaker Ravi, 21, had got the juvenile employed at the house. No photographs and address proof of the servant had been provided to the victim for police verification. Hailing from Bihar, the servant worked as cook-cum-housekeeper.Sethi lived with his 93-year-old mother, two maids and the newly-hired servant. About 20 youths lived in the guest house run by Sethi.

“Sethi’s mother found it unusual that he had not woken up by 6 am. She tried opening his door, but it appeared to be locked from inside. She then called some people living at the guest house who entered the room from a rear exit,” the victim’s friend S S Bhati told Deccan Herald.

The 65-year-old victim was found lying on his bed and his body covered with a bedsheet. “When the sheet was removed from his face, they found he had been thrashed and had his teeth broken. There were visible injury marks on his face, mouth and shoulders,” said Bhati. The police said Sethi appeared to have been strangulated.

His room was ransacked and lockers broken. It was later revealed the assailants had fled with the jewellery. All the robbed items have been recovered.
The police were informed about the murder at about 7 am and found that the juvenile servant and the caretaker were missing. Left without even a photograph or address proof of the juvenile, the police said they had a tough job at hand.

They somehow managed to obtain his mobile number and through that all four were tracked and apprehended. The accused confessed that the juvenile had opened the back door for other accused after which they killed Sethi and fled with the valuables.