IT professional found dead in house

Seems to have been strangled, body bears visible marks of scuffle, say police

A 32-year-old IT manager of a real estate company was found murdered on Wednesday morning at his rented flat in south Delhi’s Safdarjung Enclave.

He seemed to have been strangled and the body also bore marks of scuffle with injuries on his legs and abdomen. According to police, circumstantial evidence points towards a friendly entry.

Vishwanath was an employee of a real estate firm named O-2 Habitat with offices in Safdurjung Enclave and Greater Noida.

“Vishwanath was working with us. He was an asset to the company as he was very hard working,” said the wife of the owner of O-2 Habitat. On Wednesday morning, when Vishwanath didn’t reach office, company officials gave him a call to check his availability.

“Vishwanath’s phone was switched off, so the owners sent a man to his house, which is near the company’s Safdurjung Enclave office, to check on him. When the man reached the house, he found the door opened,” said a neighbour.

“Inside the room, Vishwanath was found lying unconscious with signs of scuffle and injuries on his body. The office person called an ambulance and took him to Safdurjung Hospital, where he was declared brought dead,” the neighbour added.

His mobile and wallet were missing while his laptop and motorcycle with keys on it was intact, police said. According to police, Vishwanath was living with another employee of his company who was not present in Delhi when the incident took place.

Police are investigating the motive of the murder. According to neighbours, this could be the handiwork of someone who wanted to extract some confidential information from him. “He was a confidant of the company, so this could be done by someone who wanted to find some secret information from him.

Being the IT manager he could be having some confidential detail, and the angle of jealously could not be ruled out. I can’t say anything with surety though,” one of the neighbours of Vishwanath said.

Police are waiting for the post-mortem.