A 76-year-old retired vice principal of a government school in Delhi was killed while resisting a robbery bid at his house, police said, suspecting someone known to the victim to be behind the incident.
Pratap Singh Dahiya's body was found lying in a pool of blood by his domestic maid at his house in Satyawati Colony in Ashok Vihar area of north Delhi on Sunday morning.
The maid then raised an alarm, and police were informed around 9.30 a.m.
"Dahiya's body was recovered from the store room on the ground floor of his two-storey house. His hands were tied with a rope and his head was smashed against a wall which might be the cause of his death," Deputy Commissioner of Police Vijay Singh told IANS.
"Robbery could be the reason behind the act as the house was ransacked. But we are yet to find the details of valuables missing from the house," the officer said.
After the initial inquiry, police said they could not find any signs of forcible entry into the house which raised the suspicion that the assailant might have been known to the victim.
The police officer said Dahiya, who retired from the Keshav Puram government school situated a few kilometres from his house, was registered in the Delhi Police senior citizens list.
Dahiya, father of four children -- a son and three daughters, was killed just three days after an area police officer visited his house to enquire about his health and other problems.
After registration of the elderly citizen with the Delhi Police senior citizens cell, an area police officer has to visit the house of the elderly at least once in a month to give them better sense of safety and security.
Police said Dahiya was living alone in his house as his wife Narayani Devi, a former principal of a government school in Bharat Nagar in north Delhi, had gone to the US to meet their son and two daughters who have settled there after getting US citizenship.
Dahiya's third daughter, who lives in Rohini in north Delhi, also went to the US along with her mother a few days ago.
A case under charges of murder and voluntarily causing hurt while committing robbery have been registered at Bharat Nagar police station.
Police said they were probing the case from all angles -- including robbery and personal enmity.
"We have detained several people," DCP Vijay Singh said.
--IANS
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