A 22-year-old man was found dead on Friday with his head and face smashed with stones in north Delhi's Civil Lines area, police said. Nikhil's body was found behind the office of the Directorate of Education (DoE) and his face was covered by a plastic bucket, they added.

"The kind of injuries that were there on his face and head indicate that he had been hit with stones," said a senior police officer. Police suspect he was killed following a drunken brawl.

Nikhil used to live with his family in the slums behind the Civil Lines police station. A post-mortem will be carried out tomorrow to ascertain the cause of death, he said.