On Valentine's Day, lovers gathered around Japani Park in Rohini, to celebrate the festival of love. They were interrupted by blaring announcements by security guards to vacate the park, however, when in a macabre incident, two men in their 20's were found murdered in the park.
The victims were identified as Ankush and Ashu, both distant cousins and residents of Karala Village located in Rohini. They had left their homes when their friend, identified as Bobby, had asked them to accompany him on Tuesday evening.
Hours later, when their parents frantically called their cell phones, the police picked the call and informed them about the murder. Bobby has been arrested and the police are investigating the case from all angles.
The incident was reported around 8:30 pm, when a caller, who had spotted the bodies, made a PCR call. The police reached the spot, and found the two cousins dead within a few steps of each other.
The Rohini District police had augmented its beat staff around Japani Park, for the past few days. Despite the heavy police presence and security guards in the park, the two of them were murdered. The police also found a woman's sandal near the spot, but so far no love angle has been established in the case.
The relatives of the deceased had told this paper that the boys had left their homes in the evening after their friend, Bobby, had asked them to accompany him. "They had left their house in the evening around 6 pm. Their friend Bobby who lives in the vicinity had asked them to accompany him. They told us that they were going to Begumpur for some work," said Sahil, a relative.
However, the family kept waiting for the boys to return, and when they did not they made frantic calls after which the police picked up the call and informed them about their fate.
The boys were found with multiple stab marks to their neck and chest. They were taken to Baba Bhim Rao Ambedkar Hospital, where the doctors had declared them brought dead on arrival. The police later registered a case in Prashant Vihar police station and later managed to arrest Bobby.
The police have so far not divulged the exact sequence of events or the motive for the murder. Despite repeated calls to the Deputy Commissioner of Police MN Tiwari (Rohini), he did not answer this reporter's call.
The fact that two men were murdered despite the police presence raises the issue of security and how seriously the police take this issue.
The park is notorious of the spate of murders that have taken place over the past one year.
The high profile murder of a witness in the Ex-MLA, Bharat Singh, who was gunned down while attending a marriage function is a case in point. The witness, Vipin, was killed in a honey pot style trap, and was shot multiple times inside the park in the month of December 2015.
The other high profile case was in the month of August when a woman was killed in broad daylight in front of her husband.
The park has a total of nine guards who man four gates; the guards who have regularly attacked by drunken youths now seek refuge inside the park. "We have been asked by the supervisor to not to man the gates but stay inside the par. We face difficulties in vacating the park and despite the announcements; there are people who stay inside the park. I have been asking my supervisor to shift me from the park, as it is getting extremely dangerous for me," said a security guard.