West Delhi triple murder ‘solved’: All 6 suspects held

Police said the prime suspect, identified as Amit Mehto alias Anil,18, planned the murder of his employers – Sameer Ahuja and his wife Shalu – to avenge the alleged humiliation he faced at their hands.

Three more suspects, including the alleged prime accused, were arrested by the Delhi Police from three places in Bihar for their alleged involvement in the murder of a couple and their domestic help, and dacoity at their four-storey house at Ashok Nagar near Hari Nagar last Tuesday, police said on Sunday.

Police said that the six men planned the murder around 10 days ago. They first attempted to execute their plan on the night of October 31, but the couple was not at home. (Representative image)

Police had arrested three suspects within a day of the triple murder, which took place between 8am and 9am. Police said the prime suspect, identified as Amit Mehto alias Anil,18, planned the murder of his employers – Sameer Ahuja and his wife Shalu – to avenge the alleged humiliation he faced at their hands. Mehto roped in his five friends by convincing them that they would get plenty of cash, jewellery and expensive valuables if they ransacked the couple’s house after their murder, said deputy commissioner of police (west) Ghanshyam Bansal.

Mehto worked as an assistant at a salon that Shalu ran on the ground floor of the building. Around a fortnight before the murder, Ahuja learnt that Mehto was in a relationship with a woman employee of the salon. Both men got into a heated argument, the DCP said.

“Ahuja lost his cool and abused Mehto and the woman employee in front of other staffers before sacking them both. Mehto felt humiliated and angry on behalf of the woman as well. So he planned to kill Ahuja and his wife,” added Bansal.

Police said that the six men planned the murder around 10 days ago. They first attempted to execute their plan on the night of October 31, but the couple was not at home.

Mehto learnt that the couple was partying in Dwarka and would return home late. Guessing that Ahuja would be drunk and sleeping in, Mehto and his accomplices decided to murder the duo the next morning itself.

Around 8am, Mehto arrived at the building and rang the doorbell. Shalu opened the door and let him in after he told her that he had to return some keys to her husband and talk with him about his dues. Meanwhile the domestic help, Sapna, arrived as well.

“Mehto sent Sapna to the kitchen and then let his associates in. They overpowered Shalu, who had gone to the salon, slit her throat and stabbed her multiple times. When Sapna came there, they killed her the same way. Then they went to the first-floor bedroom and smashed the sleeping Ahuja’s head and face with a heavy metal pan. They also stabbed him multiple times, killing him,” said an investigator, adding that the couple’s three-year-old daughter was also sleeping next to her father.

DCP Bansal said that Mehto’s associates wanted to kill the couple’s daughter as well. But as Mehto used to play with her was affectionate towards her, he stopped them and shifted the still sleeping child to the hall. The men then ransacked the house and left with ₹15 lakh cash, three expensive wristwatches, a laptop, some jewellery and Shalu’s iPhone. Mehto also took away the digital video recorder (DVR) of the CCTV camera from the house.

“The suspects Sachin,19, and Sujeet, 21 were arrested on Tuesday evening while their accomplice, Manish Kumar, 20, was caught the next day. Mehto, Ramzan alias Saddam,19 and Saurabh alias Chhotu, 20, fled to Jaipur and then to the houses of their relatives in Bihar, from where we arrested them with nearly ₹4 lakh in cash and some stolen items,” added the DCP.