According to police, apart from the bullet—that of a .315 bore—removed from Akash Saxena’s jaw, two teeth were missing from his mouth, indicating that he was involved in a scuffle before being murdered.

Police said Saxena was last seen with his colleague, Ganesh, who told them that he and Saxena had a drink in the parking lot of Abacus Softech Limited, the Patparganj Industrial Area-based company they were working for.

“After that, I left for my Najafgarh residence, while Saxena told me he was going to his house,” Ganesh said.

“Ganesh is Saxena’s closest friend. His mobile phone showed over 90 missed calls from Saxena and his family members on Saturday night. He told us that he was sleeping and that the phone was on silent mode — the reason he did not answer,” a senior police officer said. Though the police have not established the reason for the murder, robbery has been ruled out as his belongings were intact.

“We are interrogating his colleagues and friends. He had no financial disputes and his family life was also smooth,” a police official said.

His body was returned to his family after postmortem. Saxena’s cousin, Shweta Saxena, said he was engaged at Saharanpur three months ago and his in-laws to-be were to arrive on February 5.

“They came here today and paid their final respects,” said Shweta, who was at Saxena’s residence at M-115 in Bhagat Singh Market. She said Saxena was jovial, and that the family did not suspect anybody. Saxena’s uncle, Amrish, said the girl he was to wed also was from the family.

“He was to get married on Sunday at Swati Auditorium in Mandir Marg. His marital leave was due to begin from today and this happened,” Amrish said.