Lawyer killed at dhaba over salad

NEW DELHI: A tiff over a complimentary serving of salad claimed the life of a 40-year-old lawyer on Thursday night. The victim, Rajiv Sharma, worked at Tis Hazari courts and was from Himachal.
Going by the version given by Sharma's colleagues, he had left office around 7pm and was supposed to meet a client at Karkardooma courts. He returned around 9.30pm and told the guards outside that he needed to pick up his belongings-his office, which he shared with two others, is in a lane beside the main court complex.Around 10.30pm, Sharma went to Chaudhary Dhaba within the court complex for dinner. That's where trouble broke out.
Police said Sharma already had a few drinks before going to the dhaba. Inebriated, he soon had an argument with Dhana Ram Chaudhary (49), the man who runs the dhaba on contract. It didn't take long for things to turn ugly and Chaudhary hit his customer with a pestle on the back of the head.
Sharma was immediately knocked out of his senses, but Chaudhary hit him a few more times to ensure he was dead. Then he asked his employees Dilip and Byom Bahadur to clean up the place and leave the body in the kitchen. Later, they dragged the body out and left it beside the staircase of his office to make it appear as if he had a fatal fall.
On Friday morning, Sharma's body was spotted and picked up by a team from Kashmere Gate police station. There were five gashes on the head and neck, and Sharma's shoes, cellphone and wallet were missing. CCTV footage recovered from another lawyer's office showed the two dhaba employees loitering in the area past midnight. Police also learnt that Sharma was last seen at the dhaba. The eatery was thereupon searched and the victim's shoe was found.
"We questioned the eatery owner, Manoj Sharma. Chaudhary was arrested from his home in northeast Delhi. He had been working there for 30 years," said additional DCP (North) Brijender Yadav.
DCP (North) Madhur Verma later said that Chaudhary had confessed. Police, however, are still questioning the dhaba owner who is himself a lawyer, arguing a case against running the eatery inside the court premises. Colleagues of the victim said he was opposed to the eatery.
Sharma is survived by his widow and two children.