NEW DELHI: Two house painters were arrested for allegedly stabbing to death a 58-year-old shoe store owner in Batla House, police said on Tuesday. The arrested accused have been identified as Mehraj Alam (32) and Taufiq (21) from Muzaffarpur, Bihar, they said. The accused allegedly stabbed to death Islam Ahmad in his shoe shop in Okhla’s Batla House area.
They stole his mobile phone with the intention of stealing over Rs 40,000 he had in his online wallet, the police said. The two painters had earlier worked at the victim’s house on August 29 and 30, they added.
Ahmad was returning home after closing his shop on Monday night when the two painters met him on the pretext of buying shoes and cajoled him to reopen his shop. Seeing him alone inside the shop, the accused allegedly stabbed him with a knife.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) Esha Pandey said the police received a call at 12.20 am regarding the murder of a man at a shop on Muradi Road in southeast Delhi’s Batla House. When the police reached the spot, Ahmad was found lying unconscious with stab injuries on his neck.He was taken to AIIMS Trauma Centre but declared dead on arrival, she said.
A case of murder under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code was registered, she added. During the inquiry, the police found that both the accused saw a balance of more than Rs 40,000 in the victim’s Paytm account, while they were painting.