Christian man killed in priest's Noida complex

Noida, Oct 19 (IANS) A 25-year-old Christian man was killed by unidentified assailants in the residential compound of a priest here, police said Sunday.

'Conrad Dominic Xavier was butchered to death by the assailants, who barged inside the residence compound of the priest in the early hours of Saturday night,' Senior Superintendent of Police R.K. Chaturvedi said.

'Although the post-mortem report has not been received, it apparently looks like he was hit on the head with a sharp-edged weapon,' he said.

Xavier was living within the residential compound of Father John D. Cunha since the last one year and was working as a technical support officer with HCL Technologies.

The reason for the murder is not known, police said. 'The assailants had spread perfume in the room due to which the sniffer dogs could not get any leads,' Chaturvedi said, adding that they seemed to be 'professionals'.

The mobile phone of Xavier is missing, Chaturvedi said.

Xavier was found dead 8.30 a.m. in his bedroom by the church domestic help Dhiraj. Dhiraj had seen Xavier sleeping around midnight.

Father Cunha said: 'We are very afraid and devastated by this sudden tragic incident. We have no clue about who committed this gruesome murder.'

He said Xavier was a very simple and religious boy and had sought shelter from him. 'Xavier was like our child and we demand thorough investigation in the matter,' he added.

Xavier passed his technical education from Zebra Institute of Professional Studies, Kolkata, and prior to HCL Technologies was working with Wipro in Okhla.