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Eyes gouged, strangled: Three Delhi teens held for horrific murder over mobile theft
The police came across the three juveniles while investigating a case regarding a stolen bike.
Three teenagers have been arrested by the Delhi police for allegedly strangling a man to death, gouging his eyes out, and then burying the body near Yamuna riverbank to hide traces of crime, police said.
The matter surfaced after a police official came across the three juveniles while investigating a case regarding a stolen bike.
A police official, after growing suspicious of their behaviour, investigated the minors and found them in possession of two mobile phones. Upon further investigation, the teenagers confessed killing the man and burying his body near Yamuna.
The police then recovered the skeletal remains of the victim near the Yamuna bank in north Delhi.
The deceased was identified as Sonu Kumar, an 18-year-old man who was originally from Aurangabad, Bihar. Police said that while the exact date and time of the crime could not be determined, the victim's family had confirmed that he had been missing for three months.
Kumar had come to Delhi in March-April this year to look for a job. However, his family was unable to establish contact with him after April.
Bike with no registration number raised suspicion
During patrolling on Wednesday, the police spotted the three teenagers riding a bike with no registration number in Alipur area.
The three, after seeing the patrolling team, tried to flee, which seemed further suspicious to the police. “They saw the patrolling team and sped up. We found their movements suspicious and chased them. They were overpowered within seconds and caught," the police said.
Following this, the police found out that the bike they were riding was stolen on July 11.
Police enquiry on phone led to horrific details about murder
The police found a Realme phone with one of the boys. When they inquired about how the phone was purchased, the three provided different versions, raising suspicion.
When the police checked the call detail records (CDR) of the phone, they found that the device had not been used since April, The Indian Express quoted an officer as saying. The officer further said that the CDR of the phone did not match the identification proof given by the teenagers.
Further interrogation led to horrific details about how the teenagers robbed the phone after killing its owner. “They admitted that they had snatched the mobile phone from an unknown person near the Yamuna riverbank in April," DCP (Outer North) Hareshwar Swami said, according to The Indian Express.
The boys said that when the owner, Kumar, resisted the robbery, they strangled him, rendering him unconscious. “They gouged his eyes out to make sure he wouldn’t be able to recognise them once he regained consciousness,” an officer said.
However, Kumar died after that, following which the panicked teenagers dipped him in the Yamuna so his “soul could rest” and dug a shallow pit, burying him near the riverbank, according to The Indian Express report.
