Man kills father, injures 11 cops in a fit of rage

New Delhi: In a fit of rage, a dismissed merchant navy officer allegedly murdered his father by slitting his throat and inflicted stab and burn injuries on a dozen others — including himself, a neighbour, and 11 policemen — in East Delhi’s Ajanta Apartments on Sunday afternoon.

The killing spree started at 1.55 am when the accused, Rahul Matta, entered the Ajanta housing society but was stopped by the guard because his entry was banned by the Resident Welfare Association (RWA) of the society. He injured the guard and went to his father’s flat and attacked him.

Later, he set himself ablaze in a neighbour’s kitchen in a bid to prevent the police from overpowering him. The deceased, Rahul’s father R.P. Matta, worked as a financial professional in Canada. He lived there with his married younger son Mukul and the latter’s family.

Rahul had been staying with his mother Vibha in flat number 32 of Ajanta Apartments. The reason Mr Matta was staying in India for the past two months was to resolve a dispute between mother and son over Rahul’s relationship with a woman she did not approve of, said Joginder Singh, a friend of the deceased.

According to the police and neighbours, RWA had placed a gag order on Rahul’s entry to his own house since the past fortnight.

Defying the order and carrying a knife, Rahul allegedly turned up outside the apartment gate on Sunday around 2 pm and entered the building to visit his family. “As the guard tried to stop him , he attacked him. The guard ducked but was hit by the blunt side and fell down. As Rahul proceeded towards his first floor house, the guard alerted the manager of the apartment, who in turn, informed the police,” said V.K. Sharma, a neighbour.

Following an argument with Mr Matta, Rahul slit his throat and also stabbed him numerous times. Hearing the commotion, Renu Bansal, a neighbour living downstairs, rushed to the Matta’s residence but was attacked.

Meanwhile, after receiving the PCR call, a police team reached Ajanta Apartments when Rahul was attacking Ms Bansal, said deputy commissioner of police (East) Omvir Singh Bishnoi.

“We freed Ms Bansal but when the policemen tried to overpower Rahul, he attacked them too. He was attacking anyone in sight,” said Mr Bishnoi.

V.K. Sharma, a resident of flat number 36 on the third floor of the same building, said it was his house that Rahul came running to after he escaped from his own flat. He then locked himself in the kitchen. At least four sub-inspectors had sustained major burn injuries.

 “The accused has received 40 per cent burn injuries and the policemen have received burn injuries between 20 to 40 per cent. All are undergoing treatment at Max Hospital,” he added. A case of murder has been registered at the Madhu Vihar police station.