Delhi: Stalker procured acid from friend to ‘clean toilet stains’

Police are still trying to ascertain the source from whom the suspect, who was arrested on Saturday from Buxar in Bihar, had arranged the country-made pistol, senior police officers said

New Delhi: Three days after the Delhi Police arrested a 26-year-old man for allegedly tying up his 23-year-old neighbour and throwing acid on her at his home in outer Delhi’s Bawana, investigation has revealed that the suspect had procured the acid from Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

The condition of the woman, who is undergoing treatment at a government hospital, continues to remain critical, even as she showed some signs of recovery on Tuesday. (Picture for representation only)

Police are still trying to ascertain the source from whom the suspect, who was arrested on Saturday from Buxar in Bihar, had arranged the country-made pistol, senior police officers privy to the development said.

Meanwhile, the condition of the woman, who is undergoing treatment at a government hospital, continues to remain critical, even as she showed some signs of recovery on Tuesday. Officials said that three policemen donated blood to save her life on Monday.

Police said the suspect, identified as Montu, was allegedly stalking his neighbour and pestering her for marriage, even though she was already married and living with her husband. He fled to his home town in Bihar’s Buxar after assaulting the woman but was arrested and brought to Delhi.

Over-the-counter sale of acid is banned across the country, including in Delhi, following the Supreme Court’s order in 2013. “Montu told us that a person he knew from Shahjahanpur had brought a bottle of acid to Delhi from his home town. Montu had told that person that he needed ‘strong acid’ to clean stains from his toilet... We are now looking for that person,” said deputy commissioner of police (outer-north) Brijendra Kumar Yadav.

Police said that Montu’s initial interrogation had revealed that he had planned to shoot the woman. To execute his murder plan, Montu also procured a country-made pistol, which he allegedly hid in a secluded place in Bawana.The police team took him to the spot he mentioned to recover the weapon, but when they reached there, Montu allegedly retrieved the gun from behind the bushes and fired at the police team. Stunned by the sudden attack, the policemen returned the fire and the bullet hit Montu in the leg, said DCP Yadav.

“Since Montu was injured and is undergoing treatment at a hospital, we have not been able to grill him regarding the source of the illegal weapon. We will certainly look for the person who gave him the country-made gun,” he added.

Police said that the woman’s husband, in his statement, told them that they initially lived in Samaypur Badli area, where Montu was their neighbour.

Since both of them belonged to Bihar, Montu frequented their home and was very friendly. The husband told the police that when he learnt that Montu had been troubling his wife, he shifted with his wife to a new residential address in Bawana around two years ago. However, Montu followed them and shifted in their neighbourhood some months later.

“Neither the woman nor her husband had ever informed the police about the stalking or filed any complaint against Montu. Apart from booking Montu in the acid attack case, we have registered a separate case of attempt to murder and attack on police personnel,” added the DCP.