Delhi: 5 held over abducting, murdering cab driver

Two men were arrested and a juvenile apprehended for allegedly abducting and killing 22-year-old cab inside his vehicle on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, around 50km from Jaipur, on July 20, Delhi Police said on Saturday

Two men were arrested and a juvenile apprehended for allegedly abducting and killing 22-year-old cab inside his vehicle on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, around 50km from Jaipur, on July 20, Delhi Police said on Saturday. The accused allegedly dumped the body on the Jaipur-Ajmer route and fled with the cab, the victim’s mobile phone and wallet.

Two other men, who allegedly helped the accused evade arrest, were also apprehended, while at least one more suspect remains absconding, police said. (Shutterstock)

Two other men, who allegedly helped the accused evade arrest, were also apprehended, while at least one more suspect remains absconding, police said. Police identified the arrested men as Mangal Deep and Sumit Sisodia, both aged between 18 and 20.

The arrests were made over the past week by a team of the Sarita Vihar police station in southeast Delhi. A zero FIR registered at Mokhampura police station in Jaipur Rural district in connection with the abduction, murder, robbery, destruction of evidence and criminal conspiracy was transferred to Delhi Police last month and converted into a regular FIR, said at least two investigators privy with the case details.

The case was registered on a complaint by Sarvesh Pal, father of the victim, Ashish Pal, the officer cited above said. Sarvesh, a farmer from Uttar Pradesh’s Auraiya district, told police that Ashish, who worked as a cab driver in NCR and lived in Noida’s Sector 57, had been missing since July 19 along with his Maruti Swift taxi.

Rajasthan Police later recovered Ashish’s cab from Nagaur district, where it had been abandoned.

“Through technical investigation, the police identified a 16-year-old suspect and apprehended him from his village in Nagaur district on July 27,” said another police officer aware of the case details.

According to the second officer, the juvenile told investigators that he and three associates from his village – Mangal, Sumit and Arjun Rinwa, who remains absconding – had travelled to Delhi on July 19 for sightseeing. The next day, they allegedly hired Ashish’s cab from Jasola for Jaipur for ₹6,500.

The officer said that the group travelled towards Jaipur via the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway and stopped at a roadside eatery. Around 50km before Jaipur, Arjun allegedly asked Ashish to stop the vehicle on the pretext of going to the toilet. Police said Sumit then overpowered Ashish by his neck while another accused assaulted him. The accused allegedly moved him to the rear seat, where Sumit and Arjun strangled him to death.

They allegedly drove towards Jaipur, dumped Ashish’s body on the roadside and fled with his car, mobile phone and wallet. Police said the accused subsequently travelled to Ajmer, where they stayed for a day, and then to Nagaur for two days before abandoning the vehicle and disposing of the stolen items at different locations.

After the case was transferred to Delhi Police, a team led by assistant commissioner of police Anil Sharma and station house officer Yudhvir visited Goa, Pune, Jaipur and Beawar while tracking the suspects. Mangal and Sumit were subsequently arrested, while Arjun remains absconding.

Police said the accused had allegedly planned to kill the cab driver, steal his vehicle and belongings, sell the car and divide the proceeds among themselves.