New Delhi: The suicide of a 28-year-old
school owner a fortnight ago has turned curious after police
discovered the body of his close friend in a pit dug on his
order a day before he took his own life.
Pankaj Bhardwaj, the owner of SV Public School in west
Delhi`s Ranhola, was found hanging by a teacher in the campus
on March 22.
Last night, police dug the school premises at the
instance of Bharadwaj`s family who were told by a school
employee that the victim had made her dig a pit in the school
a day before he committed suicide.
During the videographed searches, a body which was
later identified as that of property dealer Dinesh Sharma
(24), was recovered from the pit which was dug at the instance
of Bharadwaj.
According to a senior police official, an attendant
told the family that she had dug the pit after Bharadwaj told
her that he wanted to bury the medicines of his father
Surender Bharadwaj.
"When the attendant told the family about it, they
thought that he had hid some money and other articles in it.
They approached police and wanted us to dig up the pit once
again," the official said.
When the police dug up the pit, they found the body of
Sharma, a resident of Raj Nagar and involved in property
dealing business. "He was a close friend of Bharadwaj," the
official said. The duo were also close to one Rajnish.
Sharma was missing from his house from March 20 and a
complaint was filed with the police by his family.
Police also claimed that the trio had allegedly sold a
land to a person using forged documents some time back.
"The buyer got to know about this and had met them.
They had promised the buyer that they will pay the money
back by April ten. We feel that this incident has something to
do with these deaths," the official said.
The official said it was to be ascertained whether
Bharadwaj first murdered Sharma and then committed suicide.
"We are investigating the matter," he said.
PTI
