Highway robbers held for killing retired IAF officer

They offered him lift till ISBT but after reaching Mukundpur traffic light, they took U-turn towards Sonipat. When he resisted, they stabbed him.

The Delhi Police have arrested four persons who had killed a retired Indian Air Force officer after robbing him at Swaroop Nagar in northwest Delhi.

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Surender Kumar Singh, 48, who was working as general manager in Phoenix Company in Himachal Pradesh, was found murdered on January 15. The accused were identified as Rakesh Kake, Deepak Khairwal, Rampal and Deepak.

“During interrogation, it came to light that the accused hired cars in Delhi and NCR and used them as taxis. They used to offer lift and then rob passengers. They targeted people coming from other states at the GT Karnal bypass, Dhaula Kuan, ISBT Anand Vihar and Mehrauli-Badarpur road,” a police officer said.

They had hired a Hyundai Accent car to use it as a taxi a month back. On interrogation, Khairwal said that they were present at the GT Karnal bypass on January 14 when they saw Singh looking for a ride. “They offered him lift till ISBT but after reaching the Mukund Pur traffic light, they took U-turn towards Sonepat. When the victim resisted, they stabbed him on the neck,” the officer added.

Singh had left for his house in an office car on January 14 evening. He parked his car at Ambala and took a private bus to Delhi. But when he did not return till January 15, his brother, who is sub-inspector in the Haryana Police, traced the last location of his cell phone in Swaroop Nagar and contacted the police, leading to his identification.

Initially, it appeared to be a hit-and-run case, but the post-mortem report disclosed that the victim’s throat was slit. The police recovered two cell-phones and a laptop from their possession.