Delhi tattoo artist beheaded by friends with coconut choppers over money dispute

New Delhi: A tattoo artist based in Delhi was found beheaded in Mayur Vihar on Sunday. Police said that his three friends beheaded him with coconut choppers after he refused to return their money.

The headless body of 22-year-old Babloo Kumar was found inside bushes in a vacant plot in Delhi's Mayur Vihar on December 16. They added that the accused -- Prashant Mishra (25), Ankit Sharma (19) and Inderjeet or Bobby (27) -- have been arrested.

The brother of the dead tattoo artist told the police that Babloo left home on December 10 and did not return, although his family did not suspect anything wrong at first because he often stayed away for several days without informing anyone.

However, on Sunday, Babloo's brother asked the neighbours for their help to find him. His headless body was then found with multiple injuries at an empty plot near his house on Sunday.

Babloo's friends Bobby, Prashant and Ankit, who were last seen with him on December 10, were questioned in the case, police said. They initially told the police that Babloo left on the evening of December 10 but did not tell them where he was going.

However, police noticed that Bobby was nursing an injury which he couldn't explain. When police raised their suspicion, the three accused confessed to the crime.

Prashant, a stockbroker, had lent Babloo money which he refused to repay. Bobby and Ankit, too, had a fallout with Babloo over money.

The three accused then decided to kill Babloo.

They lured Babloo into an abandoned plot on the pretext of a party. They waited for Babloo to be drunk enough to be killed. Prashant got two coconut choppers with which the three men killed Babloo and left his body there to rot, police said.

Police also found the blood-stained clothes of the accused and the coconut choppers from the spot.