Accused in 2018 murder in Delhi arrested

The suspect, Chintu Ali alias Shintu, had been living on the streets as a homeless man under the assumed name of Gopal

A 30-year-old man who had been evading arrest for the past five years for committing a murder underneath south Delhi’s Moolchand flyover has been arrested, police officers aware of the matter said on Thursday.

According to the police, the suspect was arrested in a theft case last year under the name Gopal by the Lajpat Nagar police station, where the 2018 murder case was also registered. (Representational Image)

The suspect, Chintu Ali alias Shintu, was arrested last week in the Bhogal area near Hazrat Nizamuddin, said investigators, adding that he had been living on the streets as a homeless man under the assumed name of Gopal.

According to special commissioner of police (crime) Ravindra Singh Yadav, the case dates back to August 21, 2018, when the Lajpat Nagar police station was informed about an unidentified man who was murdered beneath the Moolchand flyover. A police team arrived and identified the man from a tattoo on his forearm as Dhani Ram, who was in his twenties. The police registered a murder case and sent the body to a government mortuary.

The police discovered that Ram was playing cards and consuming narcotics with two men, Chintu and his friend Dilip Kumar, also in his twenties, under the flyover when an altercation started among them. Chintu and Kumar hit Ram on the head with a beer bottle, due to which he died, according to the police.

“Because the suspects were at large and could not be found despite efforts, a Delhi court declared proclaimed offenders,” added Yadav.

According to the police, the crime branch team received information about a fortnight ago that one of the suspects in the murder case was in Delhi. The information was gathered, and the team learned last week that Chintu would be in the Bhogal area. As a result, a search operation was launched, and he was apprehended.

“After questioning him, we learned that the two suspects fled to Rajasthan after the murder. Dilip Kumar died in 2021 due to Covid-19. Around two years ago, Chintu returned to Delhi and began living under a different identity,” said Yadav, adding that Chintu had previously been involved in five criminal cases.

Chintu was arrested in a theft case last year under the name Gopal by the Lajpat Nagar police station, where the 2018 murder case was also registered. According to a senior crime branch officer, he was later released on bail in the theft case.