Victim’s wife planned South Delhi shooting

The police on Wednesday arrested the suspected shooter, 23-year-old Rohan Kumar and apprehended the victim’s 41-year-old wife, Babita, on Thursday.

The shooting of a BSES contractual driver in his car in south Delhi’s Andrews Ganj on Wednesday was planned by his wife and her lover, who executed the attack, the Delhi Police said on Thursday after scanning footage from scores of CCTV cameras to identify the suspected gunman.

The accused had gunned down six persons at Rohtak’s Jat College on February 12. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The police on Wednesday arrested the suspected shooter, 23-year-old Rohan Kumar and apprehended the victim’s 41-year-old wife, Babita, on Thursday. Bhimraj was shot at outside the Andrews Ganj electricity grid office, under the jurisdiction of Defence Colony police station, around 9am on Wednesday. He remains in a “critical” condition at AIIMS.

“Babita had conspired with Kumar to kill her husband after he learnt of her extramarital relationship. She funded nearly half of the ₹65,000 required for carrying out the crime,” said Atul Kumar Thakur, deputy commissioner of police (south). Raids were also on to arrest a north Delhi resident who allegedly sold the gun to Kumar, the officer added.

The police zeroed in on the suspect’s motorcycle registration plate using CCTV footage. This led them to a slum in north Delhi with nearly 10,000 houses, after which they enlisted the help of an insurance firm to track the phone number linked to the owner of the motorcycle.

Once the owner was tracked, the police realised the vehicle was sold at least twice, but without legal transfer of ownership.

By Wednesday evening, the police were able to nab Kumar, who was the last known owner of the motorcycle.

The DCP said when Kumar first admitted to the crime, he came up with a cooked-up story about how he was seeking revenge against Bhimraj over a road rage incident over a month ago. However, Kumar confessed, after the police confronted about his call records, which allegedly showed extensive communication between the two suspects.

“Kumar and Babita were in constant touch over the phone. Even after the shooting on Wednesday, he called her to find out if Bhimraj had died or not,” Thakur said.

He said Kumar first met Babita at the beauty parlour that she owned in Khirki Extension late last year. “Bhimraj found out about the relationship on January 1. Thereafter, Babita alleged, Bhimraj would get drunk and beat her up,” the DCP said.

While Bhimraj was in the intensive care unit (ICU), his brother Shiv Charan denied the allegations. “My brother liked to drink, but he did not hit his wife. When he got to know about her extramarital relationship, there was an argument between them. He wanted her to move her parlour to our neighbourhood in Chirag Delhi,” said Charan.

The police said that about a fortnight ago, Kumar met Babita at her home where they planned to have Bhimraj killed.

“Babita contributed ₹30,000 for the gun and Kumar borrowed another ₹35,000 from friends,” he said.

On Wednesday morning, Kumar allegedly removed stickers from his motorcycle, twisted the number plates and went about conducting a quick reconnaissance of the crime spot before executing the crime. “Later, he dumped his shoes and clothes in a dustbin,” the officer said.