In a gruesome murder cum robbery case, a gang of armed hooligans in the early hours of Thursday smothered to death the 35-year-old son of SK Dutta, a former director of prosecution of Delhi government. The official, along with his wife, was bound in another room of their house at the time of the incident in East Delhi’s Preet Vihar area. ‘The robbers entered the house around 2:30 am on Thursday by cutting the grill of one of the windows while we were asleep,’ said a shocked 68-year-old Dutta. ‘They were seven of them who barged into the house on the ground floor and overpowered me and my wife, Prabha, 65, and tied our mouth and hands with a bed sheet after tearing them,’ he added.
While the former director of prosecution and his wife were tied and gagged, their unmarried son Animesh, who owned a textile shop in the Preet Vihar area, was killed by the assailants as he protested.
‘When they tried to resist, the assailants gagged and tied their hands and legs with the bed-sheet. On hearing the commotion, Dutta’s son, Animesh woke up tried to put some resistance but before he could do anything, four members of the group overpowered him. They smothered him to death with a pillow,’ said a neighbour.
‘They were all masked, so we could not recognise them,’ said the former prosecutor. Dutta was main prosecutor of several prominent crime lawsuits such as the Shivani Bhatnagar case, the Nitish Katara case etc, which had their trials in various Delhi courts.
According to the police officials, after the robbers fled, Prabha, 65, managed to free herself and informed the neighbours and her married daughter, Bushra, who lives in the same area, and a PCR call was made at 7 am.
Animesh was then taken to Metro Hospital, at Preet Vihar where the doctors pronounced him dead on arrival. Police said as there were no injury marks on the body, it was believed that he was smothered to death. Post-mortem report will confirm the exact cause of death.
While the former director of prosecution and his wife were tied and gagged, their unmarried son Animesh, who owned a textile shop in the Preet Vihar area, was killed by the assailants as he protested.
‘When they tried to resist, the assailants gagged and tied their hands and legs with the bed-sheet. On hearing the commotion, Dutta’s son, Animesh woke up tried to put some resistance but before he could do anything, four members of the group overpowered him. They smothered him to death with a pillow,’ said a neighbour.
‘They were all masked, so we could not recognise them,’ said the former prosecutor. Dutta was main prosecutor of several prominent crime lawsuits such as the Shivani Bhatnagar case, the Nitish Katara case etc, which had their trials in various Delhi courts.
According to the police officials, after the robbers fled, Prabha, 65, managed to free herself and informed the neighbours and her married daughter, Bushra, who lives in the same area, and a PCR call was made at 7 am.
Animesh was then taken to Metro Hospital, at Preet Vihar where the doctors pronounced him dead on arrival. Police said as there were no injury marks on the body, it was believed that he was smothered to death. Post-mortem report will confirm the exact cause of death.