Police arrest three for hacking daily wage labourer to death in Pataudi

Police arrested three people for allegedly killing a daily-wage worker at Jaitpur village in Pataudi on Sunday night after he demanded his pending wage of ₹8,000.

Police said that the arrested persons--Mangal Singh, Ravi alias Ravinder and Kanwar Singh--were neighbours in Jaitpur. While Mangal and Ravinder are cousins, Kanwar is Ravinder’s maternal uncle. Police said they were arrested on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday after searches were carried out in their village.

The deceased, Mahesh Kumar (30), also a resident of Jaitpur, was allegedly thrashed and then hacked to death using an axe in the village late on Sunday night. Police said Mahesh was accused in at least seven criminal cases, including of attempt to robbery and assault.

According to the FIR registered on Monday, Mahesh’s father Ranvir Singh alleged that the suspects killed his son when he had gone to Mangal’s residence asking to clear his dues of ₹8,000.

Police said on the basis of the statements given by the suspects, an axe, a steel rod used in construction works and an iron pipe used in the crime were recovered from a well in the fields owned by Mangal. Police have sent the weapons for forensic analysis to study the blood samples on them.

A police officer privy to the investigation said that Ravinder allegedly used the steel rod while Mangal used the pipe to assault Mahesh. “It was Kanwar who used the axe to hit Mahesh, which fatally injured him. Mahesh worked in Mangal’s fields in November last year and was due to receive his pending wages,” said the officer quoting the statements of the arrested trio.

He said Mahesh reached Mangal’s residence on Sunday night and demanded his pending wage.

“Mahesh was in a highly inebriated state and was hurling abuses. Mangal lost his cool and started assaulting Mahesh. Later Ravinder and Kanwar also assaulted Mahesh, resulting in his death,” said the officer.

Rakesh Kumar, station house officer of Pataudi police station, said all three suspects were sent to judicial custody and further investigation is going on in the case.