Debt-ridden Delhi jeweller checks into Varanasi hotel with mother, hangs self

VARANASI: A jeweller from Delhi’s Paharganj was found hanging in a hotel room in Varanasi on Tuesday night. The deceased, Sahil Malik (25), had arrived in the city with his mother Prerna Malik on Monday.Police said Sahil had checked into a hotel in Bhelpur under a false name of Gaurav Verma. He allegedly gave sleeping pills to his mother and later hanged himself. In a suicide note recovered from the room, Sahil stated that he had borrowed huge sums of money from multiple individuals and was unable to clear his dues.Sahil’s mother found him hanging in the room when she woke up on Wednesday morning and informed the hotel staff, who then alerted the police.Inspector Bhelupur VK Shukla said Sahil had booked the room as Gaurav Verma and stated he was from Delhi’s Karol Bagh. On Tuesday, he returned to the hotel room with his mother after midnight.Bhelupur police contacted Karol Bagh police and learned he owned a jewellery shop in Karol Bagh and had taken loans worth crores of rupees from various people in Delhi, who had filed complaints against him. Faced with mounting pressure, he had fled Delhi with his mother and checked into the Varanasi hotel and told the hotel staff that he had to go to Bareilly later.Prerna informed the police that her husband had died five years ago while her younger son, aged 14, lives with a relative in Delhi. She recalled that before returning to the hotel, Sahil had taken her to many temples, including Kashi Vishwanath, Durga Temple, and Sankat Mochan.