A 62-year-old retired army major who owned a paying guest accommodation was smothered to death Thursday in his house here, police said.
His servant was missing after the incident, said police.
The body of Rohit Sethi, who owned a paying guest accommodation in west Delhi's Patel Nagar area, was spotted by a resident of the accommodation around 5.30 a.m.
A caretaker of the PG accommodation, Ravi, informed the neighbours and police.
Sethi lived with his 93-year-old mother, who was sleeping in another room on the ground floor of the two-storeyed house. His wife and son live outside Delhi.
Police said no injury mark was found on his body. However, a cupboard was found open and the house was ransacked.
Sethi, who retired from the army in 1982, had won a gallantry award in 1971 when he was serving as Second Lieutenant. He was also a former president of the Bharatitya Janata Party's ex-servicemen's cell.
Police said they suspected his servant, who was employed only four days back, to be involved in the crime.