A 32-year-old security guard was allegedly murdered and cash worth Rs 2.5 lakh robbed by unidentified assailants at a restaurant in F-Block of Connaught Place’s Inner Circle area in the early hours of Sunday.

According to police sources, the security guard of restaurant-cum-bar Host Inn, Rajesh Thakur, was found dead by his co-workers on Sunday morning. The incident is reported to have occurred around 1.30 am on Sunday.

“Thakur’s body was recovered from the kitchen service lane by a hotel employee, Pankaj, who arrived at the restaurant in the morning,” a senior police officer said. “Thakur was attacked by a blunt object — there were injury marks on his head and face and stab injuries on his chest.”

Police said they suspect that the entry of the assailants was friendly. Glasses of alcohol were also found at the spot, which indicates that liquor had been consumed before or at the time of the incident, the police added.

Arun Kumar, the restaurant’s manager said, “It being Valentine’s Day and a weekend, we had a good crowd turnout till late night and were open till 12.45 am. The incident must have taken place after that.”

He added that on Sunday morning when other workers arrived, they discovered the body lying near the kitchen at the backside of the restaurant and the broken cash box. He was informed about the incident and a call to the police was made.

The victim’s body was sent to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital for postmortem. “Initial investigations reveal that the motive behind the killing was robbery. Further investigations are on,” a senior police officer said.

The police added that Thakur was working at the restaurant as a night guard for the past three months. Ravikant Tiwari, a kiosk-owner who sits in front of the hotel, said, “I was here till around 1 am and didn’t hear anything. Rajesh had been doing night shifts for a while now. He used to come in around 10 pm.”

S N Jha, Rajesh’s uncle who works in a shop close to the restaurant said, “I was here the entire night. I did not hear or see anything suspicious.”

Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Shankar Dash said, “We have a few clues and are working on them.”