AAP leader murdered in New Delhi, body dumped near swamp

The body of an AAP leader was found near a swamp, where it was allegedly dumped after he was brutally murdered, at outer Delhi's Begumpur area on Monday.

Dhirendra Ishwar had left home on Sunday evening to attend a get-together in west Delhi's Nangloi area and failed to return. Ishwar was allegedly stabbed multiple times, his genitals chopped off and his face smashed with a heavy object, said a police officer.

Ishwar was the Purvanchal Wing district president of Aam Aadmi Party, who had launched a yoga institute in the area around a fortnight ago but that had to be shut down because of some ongoing property dispute, said the officer.

Ishwar left home around 6pm on Sunday and called up his wife around 7.30pm and said that he would leave for home with an associate in a while, the officer said.

Around 7am on Monday, locals found Ishwar's body near a swamp, which is less than 100 metres away from his residence, and raised an alarm. Police teams rushed to the spot and Ishwar's family was informed. His relatives identified the body by the jacket, said the officer.

"The police have registered a case of murder and several persons have been questioned. The body of the deceased has been sent for post-mortem examination," DCP (Outer) Vikramjit Singh said.

Police were yet to ascertain whether Ishwar was killed near his house or was he killed somewhere else and then the body dumped at the swamp near his house. Prima facie it is a case of personal enmity and the police haven't ruled out the probability of hate crime, an official said.