Interestingly, the Chandigarh Police registered a case of murder against the two accused, Ankit Mittal and Aseem Mittal, while for the same incident, the Punjab Police registered a case on charge of kidnapping with an intention to kill.

As per UT police officers, there was an argument between Dhanpat and brothers Ankit and Aseem regarding money that Dhanpat had taken from them and was not able to return. Following a heated exchange of words, the two brothers started beating him at the market around 5 pm.

Sharma’s brother Roshan Lal said, “I called my brother at 6 pm and someone else answered the call. The person at the other end said Dhanpat had had been severely hurt after meeting with an accident. Then he disconnected the phone, saying he would tell me later which hospital I should reach.”

Roshan Lal said he received many calls from the same person. Ultimately, at 7 pm, a police officer called and asked him to reach Sector 26 grain market where the Mittals were coming with his brother.

“In Sector 26, I was asked to sit in a car in which my brother was sitting. The two employers said that we will go to the hospital. But when I touched my brother and tried to talk to him, he was unconscious. Father of the two Mittals checked my brother and said there was no use going to the hospital as he was dead. He had bruises on his arms and legs, and his hands were swollen.”

By this time, the Mittals had taken the car back to Banur where they tried telling Roshan Lal to reach a compromise. “The Mittals’ father and the police personnel told me to take whatever amount of money I want and reach a compromise,” said the brother of the deceased.

The Mittals drove back to their shop at Sector 26 grain market at 8 pm, and again there was an argument about compromise. “I called all my relatives in Chandigarh,” added Roshan Lal.

Rajesh Sharma, brother-in-law of the deceased, said, “I called the police control room at 1.30 am, and the police officers reached the spot at 1.45 am. The two accused, Ankit and Aseem, had fled by then and after the police went through their formalities, we brought Dhanpat’s corpse to GMSH-16.”

Lucky Sharma, cousin of the deceased, said, “We have been sitting here since three in the morning waiting for post-mortem to be done as we have to take the body to Himachal.”

Dhanpat had been working as an accountant with the Mittals for the last 10 years. Hailing from Hamirpur, he is survived by three daughters aged 23, 21 and 10 and a son aged 12. He had been living in Chandigarh alone.

Disagreement leads to delay in post-mortem