Two contract killers held for Old Seelampur woman’s murder in Delhi

The two told police that they were hired by a 61-year-old woman named Madhu to kill Fatima. Police said Madhu, who knew Fatima for a decade and did not get along with her, suspected that Fatima would try to usurp her property worth ₹2.5 crore.

A 40-year-old woman who was shot dead in Old Seelampur on March 14 was murdered by contract killers hired by another woman, Delhi Police said Sunday after arresting the two alleged hitmen. Police said the two alleged hitmen were paid ₹1 lakh for the murder. With their arrest, police have also solved another case in which the two men had killed a man in October last year.

Based on a tip, our team arrested one of the suspects Zeeshan from Anand Vihar on March 26. Zeeshan revealed the name of his accomplice--one Shokeen Khan. (Sourced)

According to police, around 10am on March 14, Fatima alias Sunita, who worked at a hand weaver’s shop, was shot dead in her first-floor house in Old Seelampur area. Eyewitness accounts and an analysis of footage from CCTV cameras in the area showed that the two men had come to the spot on a Hero Splendor motorcycle.

R Sathiyasundaram, deputy commissioner of police (Shahadra), said that as part of the investigation, police checked the CCTV cameras in the area and mapped the exit routes that the two gunmen had taken. “We collected local intelligence through our informers. Based on a tip, our team arrested one of the suspects Zeeshan from Anand Vihar on March 26. Zeeshan revealed the name of his accomplice--one Shokeen Khan. He said Shokeen would visit Gandhi Nagar on the intervening night of March 26-27. Acting on this tip, we laid a trap and spotted Shokeen on a motorcycle on the morning of March 27. The police team asked him to stop but he tried to escape after firing at the police team. He was arrested after a brief shoot-out,” said DCP Sathiyasundaram.

During questioning, the two men confessed to being contract killers. “They are professional killers. They use motorcycles with fake number plates and communicate over VoIP calls to ensure there is no evidence,” the DCP added.

The two told police that they were hired by a 61-year-old woman named Madhu to kill Fatima. Police said Madhu, who knew Fatima for a decade and did not get along with her, suspected that Fatima would try to usurp her property worth ₹2.5 crore. Police said Madhu discussed this with her friend Rani alias Reshma, who is allegedly Shokeen’s partner. Rani helped Madhu get in touch with Shokeen and the other gunman, police said.

“Their questioning helped us solve another case. Shokeen confessed he had also murdered Rani’s husband, Arvind in October last year. Rani had filed a missing report at the Bhajanpura police station. Rani was Shokeen’s partner so they planned to get rid of Arvind. We are questioning them to get more details on this case,” said a senior police officer aware of the case.

Police are on the lookout for the two women -- Madhu and Rani.