25-year-old held for killing bus cleaner in Delhi

Mohit Mehra was from Amritsar in Punjab and his body was found with multiple wounds caused by sharp weapons at CBD ground in Karkardooma on the day of Holi

The Shahdara district police on Wednesday said they arrested the suspect involved in the alleged blind murder case of the 40-year-old cleaner of a private bus, Mohit Mehra. Mehra was a native of Amritsar in Punjab and his body was found with multiple wounds caused by sharp weapons at CBD ground in Karkardooma on the day of Holi, police said.

Police said that the murder took place around 11am and the body was spotted by a police patrol team half an hour later. (Representational Image)

“The 25-year-old suspect was identified as Nabi Mohammad, who hails from Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh. Mohammad had escaped to Farrukhabad on a train he boarded from Anand Vihar railway station, soon after killing Mehra,” said deputy commissioner of police (Shahdara) Rohit Meena.

Police said that Mehra and Mohammad worked as cleaners and lived inside the buses or pavements around the place of their work. Neither of them used phones or have been in touch with their families in Punjab and UP for years, senior police officers aware of the case said.

“We scanned hundreds of CCTV cameras, interrogated over 50 people, and analysed call details of several phones to ascertain the identities of the deceased as well as the suspect. At least 20 personnel led by special staff Inspector Vikas Kumar worked for a week to nab the suspect,” added Meena.

The DCP said that Mehra and Mohammad fought over working on the same bus as cleaners and Mohammad wanted to work on the bus Mehra was employed on. “It led to an argument between them and Mohammad attacked Mehra with a blunt object and stabbed him. He then left his body and fled,” said Meena.

Police said that the murder took place around 11am and the body was spotted by a police patrol team half an hour later, who found out that Mehra was last seen with another cleaner known to him.

“We contacted Mehra’s former colleagues. One driver claimed that around a year ago, the man had used his phone to contact his family. We collected the call details of that phone and examined it, which led us to his brother who identified him,” said an investigator, who did not want to be named.

“Investigators scanned CCTV cameras around the crime scene and learnt that the suspect had gone to Anand Vihar railway station. We established the route he took and caught him from his hometown in Farrukhabad,” added DCP Meena.