Two murders in 10 hours in Delhi, elderly targeted

Nearly 10 hours after Neelam’s murder, Ajeet Singh (62) was shot dead while he was asleep outside his house in southwest Delhi’s Palam Extension on early Tuesday morning.

Two people were murdered in two separate incidents within a span of 10 hours between Monday night and Tuesday morning. Personal enmity was the prime reason behind both the killings, said police.

Police said Neelam lived with her daughter in Vishwas Nagar while her husband works in Mumbai.

In the first incident that took place in east Delhi’s Anand Vihar around on Monday evening, a 42-year-old rickshaw puller allegedly stabbed a 51-year-old woman, Neelam, at least thrice near a bus stop close to a private hospital, where she worked as a sanitation worker. She was rushed to Hedgewar hospital where she died during treatment, said police.

Deputy commissioner of police (Shahdara) R Sathiyasundaram said the attacker, Vedpal, was known to the woman for the last 10 years, as she used to take his cycle rickshaw to commute between her home and the workplace.

“Vedpal told us that he was angry with the woman because she stopped taking his rickshaw. She had also filed a police complaint against him for assaulting her in January this year, for which Vedpal was booked,” said the DCP.

Police said Neelam lived with her daughter in Vishwas Nagar while her husband works in Mumbai. Her two other children – a daughter and a son – are married and live with their families.

Around 8 pm on Monday, Neelam finished work at the hospital and was waiting for her son near the Anand Vihar community centre, when Vedpal arrived and a scuffle broke out between the two. Vedpal took out a knife and stabbed Neelam twice in her abdomen and once on the shoulder. She screamed for help and collapsed on the road. Some passersby caught Vedpal and informed police.

“Vedpal claims that Neelam slapped him and he killed her in a fit of rage. However, he has no explanation as to why he was carrying the knife. We suspect he had come prepared to kill the woman,” said an investigator.

Nearly 10 hours after Neelam’s murder, Ajeet Singh (62) was shot dead while he was asleep outside his house in southwest Delhi’s Palam Extension on early Tuesday morning. Singh was shot in his forehead from a close range, said police.

“Singh’s family members were carrying out some construction work, that was met with opposition from their relatives. There was a quarrel over that issue on Monday. Singh’s nephew Rajbir had threatened to kill them. Singh’s family members suspect the role of their relatives, who live next door, in his murder. We are investigating the case,” said deputy commissioner of police (Dwarka) Santosh Kumar Meena.

According to Meena, the murder came to light after Singh’s wife went to wake her husband and found him dead. She alerted her family members and her son informed police about it. An empty bullet shell was found on the bed on which Singh was sleeping, said police.