Tilak Nagar: Three held, juvenile detained for robbing and killing man, injuring his friend
A day after a man was robbed and killed, and his friend grievously injured, by three unidentified men in west Delhi’s Tilak Nagar, police on Thursday said they have arrested all three and detained a juvenile accomplice.
Police said the attack was planned as a revenge by one of the arrested suspects, who was an employee of the man who survived the attack and was sacked recently.
The man who planned the attack was identified as Sonu Singh, 19, and he used to work at the packaged food distribution agency run by the injured man, Dheeraj, until a few months ago. His associates were identified as Kawaljeet Kumar, 19, previously involved in six criminal cases, and Anil Bahadur, 19 -- all residents of Tilak Nagar.
While one juvenile accomplice was also apprehended, police said they’re on the lookout for another suspect, Kuldeep Prakash, who is on the run and was previously involved in a murder and robbery case in Vikas Puri.
According to the police, a call was received at the Tilak Nagar police station at 11.29pm reporting that a few men had stabbed two men at Block 24 in Tilak Nagar and had fled towards Mall Road. “A police team reached the spot found that the injured persons had already been taken to Deen Dayal Upadhyay hospital. While one of the injured men, Ranjan Mishra, 25, who had sustained stab wounds to his right thigh, was pronounced dead at the hospital, his friend Dheeraj, who was also critically injured, survived and is undergoing treatment. His condition continues to be critical due to excessive bleeding,” said a police officer, who did not want to be named.
Additional deputy commissioner of police (west) Sameer Sharma said one of the eyewitnesses, who helped shift the injured to DDU hospital, told the police that he had seen three men attacking the duo and then fleeing on a motorcycle.
“The eyewitness said the injured also told him that they have been robbed of their laptop, mobile phone and ₹45,000 cash. A case of robbery and murder was registered and the investigation was taken up,” Sharma said.
He said, after hours of scanning CCTV footage, technical surveillance, local enquiries and verification of least 50 active criminals, the suspects were identified as residents of Tilak Nagar. “Our teams raided their hideouts and arrested them. Of the money they had stolen, ₹24,640 was recovered along with a knife used in the murder,” the additional DCP said.
Sharma said, during interrogation, Sonu revealed that he used to be an employee of Dheeraj at the latter’s shop. “He said they had gotten into a dispute over salary and Dheeraj had sacked him. When Sonu told his juvenile friend about Dheeraj, he introduced him to Kawaljeet, Anil and Kuldeep. As Sonu had also told them that Dheeraj leaves for his house every night with a daily collection of about ₹50,000, they hatched a plan to rob Dheeraj,” he said.
The officer said, as planned, the juvenile suspect followed Dheeraj and Ranjan as soon as they left the shop around 10.30pm Tuesday. When they reached Choukhandi Chowk, the juvenile informed Sonu, Kanwaljeet and Anil, who intercepted the duo near Block 24 to rob them. But when the two men fought back, the trio stabbed both of them and fled with their valuables,” Sharma said. He said Kuldeep had helped the trio in carrying out the crime and several police teams are currently searching for him..