E-Paper
Jeweller who turned robber held for murder of 21-yr-old in E Delhi
Acharya niketan attacker identified from CCTV footage; had shaved beard to evade cops
A 35-year-old jeweller-turned-robber, who has been involved in more than 30 crimes, was arrested in connection with the murder of a 21-year-old man in a road rage case outside a store in Acharya Niketan near Mayur Vihar Phase-1 on Monday.
Cops identified the accused, Sidhant Verma, with the help of CCTV footage of the shop.
Police said since Verma, who is also into property business, knew he was captured on CCTV camera, he changed his appearance by removing his beard and moustache and cutting his hair short.
The pistol Verma used to fire four bullets at the victim, Yogesh Kumar, in front of his cousin, Aman, and friend Golu, was recovered from his possession.
The firing happened after an altercation that allegedly began after the door of Verma’s i-20 car scraped Yogesh outside a 24Seven store. Yogesh broke the front right window glass of the car after which Verma fired at him. Verma’s partner in the crime, Pramod, is still absconding.
During confrontation, police said, Verma asked Yogesh not to provoke him by saying, “Jitni tumhari umar hai, use zyada mere upar cases hain (I have more criminal cases against my name than your age).”
Deputy commissioner of police (east) Pankaj Singh said Verma was arrested near Dasna toll plaza while he was driving in his i-20 car towards a new hideout in Ghaziabad. The pistol was recovered from Verma’s possession.
“Verma was using reversible number plates on the car. One side had the original UP registration number while the other side had a fake Delhi number. At the time of the arrest, Verma was using the fake number. He had replaced the broken window glass with a new one,” said DCP Singh.
DCP Singh said Verma was identified and caught with the help of their intelligence network. Ten teams were formed to probe the case.
“Verma’s face was clearly visible in the footage. We showed his photos to criminals. A few identified him after which we found his cell phone number and put it on surveillance,” said Singh.
Police said Verma was living in a rented home with his wife and two children in Ghaziabad. He was missing from his home a day after the crime and was frequently changing locations.
On Thursday night, the investigating teams learnt Verma was coming to Ghaziabad in his car. The police waited at the Dasna toll plaza and caught him by taking advantage of the slow traffic.
Verma told police he used to run his ancestral jewellery shop in Delhi’s Subzi Mandi. As he was not doing well, he came in contact with robbers and began buying stolen jewellery items.
“In 2009, he closed his shop and joined some robbers and began committing street crimes. Verma has over 30 such cases registered against him in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh,” the officer said.
