A faint smell of kerosene, a locked stairway, and a charred body inside a small temple room-these details echoed through a packed courtroom in East Delhi on Thursday. After years of trial and layers of circumstantial evidence, the Delhi District Court finally delivered its verdict in the disturbing murder of Chander Shekhar, holding a temple priest and his wife guilty. The judgment, running into dozens of pages, stitched together phone records, forensic clues, and human conduct to arrive at a clear conclusion.
Background
The case dates back to September 2017, when police received an early morning call reporting that a man had been burnt to death inside a temple room in Kailash Nagar. The room, located on the first floor, was under the control of Lakhan Dubey, the temple’s priest. The body was burnt beyond recognition. Initially, Lakhan claimed ignorance, suggesting that someone else had killed the man elsewhere and dumped the body there.
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The investigation, however, took a dramatic turn when Lakhan’s wife, Kamlesh, broke down during questioning. She disclosed that the deceased was Chander Shekhar, a neighbour from their native village. According to the prosecution, Chander was lured to Delhi, drugged with sleeping pills, strangulated by the couple, and later set on fire to destroy evidence.
Court’s Observations
The court noted that there was no eyewitness to the crime, making it a classic case based on circumstantial evidence. Still, the chain was found to be “complete and unbroken.” Medical evidence confirmed death by strangulation, not fire. Forensic reports detected kerosene residue and traces of sedatives. Call detail records showed sustained contact between the accused and the deceased right up to the night of the murder.
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Crucially, the judge pointed out that the accused failed to offer any believable explanation about how a murdered man ended up inside a locked temple room to which Lakhan alone held the key. “The accused chose silence or denial where an explanation was expected,” the bench observed, adding that such conduct allowed the court to draw an adverse inference.
On the alleged delay in sending samples to the forensic lab and the absence of public witnesses during recoveries, the court was blunt. These lapses, it said, did not automatically weaken a prosecution case when the overall evidence remained consistent and credible.
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Decision
Concluding that the evidence pointed only in one direction, the court held Lakhan Dubey and Kamlesh guilty of murder, criminal conspiracy, and destruction of evidence under the Indian Penal Code. The judgment recorded that the couple acted in coordination-planning the crime, executing it, and attempting to erase its traces. With this, the court convicted both accused, bringing a grim chapter that began in a temple room eight years ago to a legal close.
Case Title: State vs Lakhan Dubey @ Laxman Prasad & Another
Case No.: Sessions Case No. 361/2018 (FIR No. 432/2017)
Case Type: Murder and Criminal Conspiracy (Sections 302/201/120B IPC)
Decision Date: 26 December 2025
