Ghaziabad: His friend called him to say he would treat him to his favourite paneer dishes for lunch.
As the food lay in front of him, Krishan Kumar (24) did not take long to polish it off.
Little did he suspect that the piping hot paneer could be laced with poison.
Krishan died at a private hospital in Masuri.
That was on September 7, 2020.
Nearly 10 months have passed since his alleged murder.
But Krishan’s family is still making rounds of the local police station to get the five youths they have named in their complaint arrested.
Among them is Ankur, who had asked Krishan to come for lunch at the restaurant where he worked as a waiter.
Krishan’s family members claimed he had given Ankur Rs 20,000 and was prodding him to return the money since he wanted to buy a new phone.
On September 7 last year, Ankur allegedly promised to return the money and called Krishan to his restaurant.
There were six of them, including Krishan.
They ate the same food but Krishan’s plate was laced, his family alleged.
They also downed a bottle of liquor.
Police, who spent the first few months of their investigation waiting for the viscera report, are now saying they need to get the report verified by a senior doctor before taking any further action.
The report, which the cops claimed to have received only four days ago, mentions the presence of certain chemicals in Krishan’s blood.
The younger of two brothers, Krishan worked at the family grocery store in Masuri.
“On the day he was murdered, Krishan left home around 9am.
He told me Ankur had to give him some money, with which he would buy a phone,” elder brother Yogesh said.
When Krishan did not return home by 3pm, his family started calling his friends — Krishan’s phone had broken a few days ago — but none of them responded.
“I was in the store in the evening when Ankur and a few others barged into our house.
They said they would kill all of us if we asked for the Rs 20,000 that Krishan had given him,” Yogesh said.
A staggering Krishan, frothing at the mouth, was found around 7pm, a few kilometres away from his house.
“He told us Ankur had laced his food with poison.
We took him to a nearby hospital, where he died,” Yogesh added.
The family checked CCTV footage at the restaurant, where Krishan could be seen with the five accused.
An FIR for murder and under IPC Section 328 (causing hurt by means of poison, etc., with intent to commit an offence) was registered 15 days later against Ankur, Tarun, Pushpendra, Sudesh and Amit.
Ashok Pal, the investigating officer in the case, said they got the report only four days ago.
“This is a very serious issue.
We have decided to take the help of a senior doctor in the case.
He will tell us whether the chemicals mentioned in the report are dangerous to the human body or not,” he added.