Student chasing US dream held for Karol Bagh murder

He makes one last attempt to redeem his sagging fortunes and kills a businessman in a robbery attempt, reports Ravi Bajpai.

A small-time farmer’s son aspiring to make it big takes a loan of Rs 3 lakh and sets out to Singapore to do a diploma in hotel management. Despite the qualification, he doesn’t get a job and is duped of lakhs while trying to fix a settled life in the United States.

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He ends up facing a huge debt and the sight of his suffering parents. He makes one last attempt to redeem his sagging fortunes and kills a businessman in a robbery attempt.

This is the story of 22-year-old Rahul Kumar Raman Bhai Choudhary, who the police claim killed Karol Bagh-based jeweller Abhay Sharma, 50, on Tuesday evening. Whatever the reasons, the bottom line is that Choudhary destroyed a happy family of four.

“Choudhary tried to rob Sharma at knife-point. He slashed Sharma’s neck when the jeweller resisted,” said Alok Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central). It may now take years for Sharma’s grieving wife Sangeeta and two children to recover from the shock.

The tragedy has its making a few years back when Choudhary decided to drop out of graduation in his hometown Pratap Pura in Gujarat, the police said. His father, Raman Bhai Choudhary reportedly owns eight-bigha land and cultivates paddy and wheat.

“He was studying Sanskrit, Economics and Gujarati, but dropped out after two years and went to Singapore in December 2006 for a six-month diploma in hotel management after taking Rs. 3 lakh loan. Choudhary couldn’t get a job there and was lured by a fraudster Amit Kumar whopromised to send him to the States,” said a police officer.

Once back in India in June, Amit duped Choudhary of Rs. 3.7 lakh and even stole his passport. On the verge of committing suicide, Choudhary got inspired from the movie Dhoom-II and decided to commit robbery. In the attempt, he killed the jeweller.

Choudhary took the police for a ride initially. He committed the crime alone but later told police that one of his acquaintances, Draunil, was the murderer. Draunil, police later found out, wasn’t in Delhi at the time of murder. Choudhary got to know Draunil through Amit, said the officer.

He reportedly came to Delhi on October 8 and took lodging at an accommodation in Civil Lines. He started surveying jeweller shops in Chandni Chowk initially. “He was targetting shops where there weren’t enough security guards and employees, but couldn’t find any,” said Alok Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central).