Body at nursery: 'Killer' arrested in Delhi

New Delhi, April 19 (IANS) A young man from the Khan Market area was arrested Wednesday night for allegedly murdering a teenager at a nursery near the market on April 10 and later setting the body on fire, said a senior Delhi Police official Thursday. The brunt body was discovered early Wednesday.

The official claimed that Neeraj, 21, strangulated Atul, 15, with a plastic cord at the abandoned Kamal Nursery and eight days later tried to burn the decomposing body to destroy evidence.

Neeraj is a school dropout who worked in the Khan Market.

He was angry with Atul for constantly humiliating him and wanted to take revenge, Sezu P. Kuruvilla, additional deputy commissioner of police, said. "He managed to take Atul inside the nursery on some pretext and strangulated him," he said.

The body kept lying at the nursery and began giving off stench. So Wednesday, Neeraj again went there and set the body on fire, Kuruvilla said. The smoke was spotted by a taxi driver who then alerted a beat constable. The constable scaled the wall and found a body in flames. Since the body was burnt beyond recognition, the teenager's family identified him from his slippers.

Atul's father Suresh, who works at the India Habitat Centre, said his son had left home at Prithviraj Lane around 8 p.m. on April 10 to meet his friends but never returned. The next day, when he approached the Tughlaq Road Police Station, the officials registered a case of kidnapping.