Lawyer found dead in Tis Hazari court, murder suspected

A 38-year-old lawyer was found dead near an eatery on the Tis Hazari court complex in North Delhi on Friday morning. The police said the deceased was identified as Rajiv Sharma. Within six hours, one person has been arrested for allegedly being involved in his murder. 

According to the police, Sharma’s office is located in chamber number 30. His body was discovered around 7am near T-Block lawyers’ chambers eatery owned by another lawyer Manoj Singh. The police said Sharma had visited the eatery around 10.45pm on Thursday.

The police said a deep wound was found on Sharma’s head. Apparently, he was hit by a heavy and blunt object, said a police official. The police rounded up four employees of the eatery, including the canteen in-charge.

According to the police, Sharma had a heated argument with the eatery in-charge, Dhanna Ram Chaudhary (49), over the quality of food. It soon turned violent and Chaudhary, who was in an inebriated state, allegedly hit Sharma on the head with a brass casting used to grind spices. Other employees of the eatery were present when the incident took place, the police said.

“Seeing Sharma collapse, Chaudhary fled. Soon, the other employees shut the eatery, leaving Sharma in a pool of blood. Chaudhary has been booked under Section 302 (murder). He was arrested on Friday afternoon,” said Madhur Verma, Deputy Commission of Police (North).

The police have also found bloodstain on stairs of the eatery, suggesting that Sharma was dragged and dumped a few metres from the eatery. The police said Sharma’s arms and legs were folded inward. The police are examining the footage captured by CCTV cameras, installed in the court complex, to ascertain the involvement of the other employees. Chaudhary is a resident of Jodhpur in Rajasthan and was working at the eatery for the past few years. After Sharma’s death came to light, lawyers staged a protest at the Tis Hazari court complex and went on a strike. “City lawyers have decided to suspend work on Friday due Sharma’s murder on the courts’ premises,” said RK Wadhwa, chairman of the coordination committee of bar associations of all district courts.