Police reached the spot and met the relatives of those who died. (Representational)
A 23-year-old man was arrested after two decomposed bodies were recovered from a drain opposite the India International Centre here, police said on Wednesday.
The accused has been identified as Mohammad Ateeque, a resident of Araria district in Bihar, they said, adding he works as daily wage labourer.
Senior police official Amrutha Guguloth said they received a call around 6.17 pm on Tuesday where the caller said he saw two bodies in a drain opposite India International Centre, Lodhi Estate in central Delhi.
Police reached the spot and met Mohammad Ashab and other relatives of the victims who identified them as Khurshid, 31, and Sajjad, 34, from Araria in Bihar.
Ashab said he got information that Khurshid and Sajjad, both living in Kotla, were missing from the last three to four days. Ashab went to Kotla where he met Ateeque and Alauddin, roommates of the deceased. He enquired about Khurshid and Sajjad but Ateeque and Alauddin did not give any satisfactory reply, Ms Guguloth said.
When he told them that he will inform the police, Ateeque took Ashab to the spot from where the two bodies were recovered, police said.
A case under sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender) of the India Penal Code was registered at Tughlaq Road police station, the DCP said.
During investigation, CCTV footage of nearby areas were analysed and it was found that on Friday around 5.53 pm, three persons visited the spot in an auto-rickshaw. Two of them entered inside the drain, while the third person waited outside, Ms Guguloth said.
Around five minutes later, the third person also entered the drain and came out after a few minutes. He then covered the drain with the drain lid and fled the spot. That third person was identified as Ateeque, the roommate of those who died. He was taken into custody and on interrogation, he confessed to the crime, Ms Guguloth said.
He further disclosed that after commission of the crime, he again visited the spot for destruction of evidence. He is being further interrogated, police said.
According to a senior police officer, the accused said the reason behind the death of the two persons was theft.
"The accused said both the deceased persons entered the drain in order to steal underground cable wires and died inside it. He failed to rescue them and fled the spot. However, the post-mortem report is yet to be received in which the cause of death will be ascertained whether they were killed by the accused or died inside the drain," the officer said.
The dead person and the accused were together on Holi and the incident happened after that, police said.
Ateeque has been previously involved in an Arms Act case registered at Saritha Vihar police station. Khurshid was involved in a theft case of Hauz Khas police station, Ms Guguloth said.
Ashab, who is the cousin of Sajjad and brother-in-law of Khurshid, said he received a call from his mother-in-law that Khurshid and Sajjad were missing.
"They were missing since Holi on Friday. I got a call from my mother-in-law on Monday that they were missing. Somebody informed her that two bodies were found at Usmanpur. When we reached there, nobody was found there. Later, I along with others, reached Kotla Mubarakpur where Sajjad and Khurshid used to live in a rented accommodation along with Ateeque, Alauddin, and Firdoz," Ashab said.
Ateeque was not saying anything initially, he said.
"In the room, there were eight to nine people present. We were talking to Ateeque and other roommates for two to three hours, but he was not saying anything regarding the missing persons."
"When we pressured him, he took us to the spot and started opening the lid of the drain. Later, he asked us to open one lid where we found the bodies and informed police about the incident," Ashab said.
Ashab, a labourer residing in Noida, said the deceased were married and have children. They both used to work as labourers and their families live in Bihar.
Ishtiyaq Khan, a relative of Khurshid, said he got the information about the incident and rushed to the spot.
"I was shocked after seeing their body inside the drain. We have no idea what is the reason behind this act. I heard that the relation between the deceased and their flatmates was fine," Khan said.