Srinagar, Oct. 9: Handicrafts seller Nazir Ahmad Mahajan was bent over his wares, attaching price tags, when his only son crept up behind him with a hammer in his hand.

It was the evening of the ICC World Twenty20 final and the Dalgate showroom was as quiet as the deserted streets outside.

Police are not sure whether Zubair, 22, or his friend Suhail struck the first blow to the old man’s head.

“When they realised Mahajan was still alive, the son held his arms while Suhail went on striking blows till the victim was dead,’’ Srinagar police chief Ahfad-ul Mujtaba said today.

“This is the most shocking crime I have come across in my life. Zubair killed his father because he wanted to usurp Mahajan’s wealth, which was already his in a sense because he was an only son.”

The killers had chosen the moment well. They stuffed the body in a gunny bag and had no trouble lugging it across the empty streets and dumping it at neighbouring Rajbagh, officers said. Zubair then went to the police to report that his father was missing.

Both Zubair and Suhail Ahmad, an auto-rickshaw driver, have allegedly confessed and are in custody.

“We have learnt that Mahajan was extremely affectionate towards his son and kept a close watch on his activities,” Mujtaba said. “Zubair, who was a roadside Romeo, wanted more space. These are the reasons for the murder.”

Sociologists say the trend of middle-class children murdering their parents to get hold of their money, land or houses is increasing across the country, even in the big cities.

The children, exposed to free-spending western lifestyles, “no longer want to inherit, they want to grab,” said Myrtle Barse, who teaches sociology at a Mumbai college.

Mahajan’s body was found on September 25, the day after the murder, inside the gunny bag in Rajbagh.

Mahajan had been leading a campaign against liquor dealers who had reopened their shops after the 18-year militant ban, and they became the immediate suspects.

“Zubair’s mobile call details revealed that he was in constant touch with Suhail,’’ Mujtaba said. Officers then questioned Suhail and found out that he had been using Mahajan’s missing mobile.