A teenage boy was sexually assaulted and stabbed by a gang of 13 people, most of whom were minors themselves, on suspicion of him being an informer for a rival gang.
The incident took place during the intervening night of June 29-30. The boy's body was found dumped in a canal in Delhi on July 1.
The Samaypur Badli Police Station received a PCR call regarding the body, lying completely naked with a scarf wrapped around his neck, at 3.10 pm, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer North) Hareshwar Swami said, according to PTI.
Following this, the body was sent for post-mortem, with the report revealing 24 stab wounds, along with a “blunt force in the anus”.
Nine of the people who were involved in the crime, including key accused Krishna alias Bhola (19), are in police custody, PTI reported.
Krishna allegedly planned the murder because he believed that the victim was an informer for his rivals – the Badhwar brothers.
The brothers – Monu and Sonu – are currently in jail on charges under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) for illegal activities including robberies and illegal liquor trade.
{{/usCountry}}The brothers – Monu and Sonu – are currently in jail on charges under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) for illegal activities including robberies and illegal liquor trade.
{{/usCountry}}Krishna had been assaulted by the brothers around Diwali the previous year, and was planning to avenge the incident, an officer said, according to PTI.
He, along with his aides, kidnapped the victim from Veer Chowk Bazar and took him to a spot near the Munak Canal, where he was stripped and assaulted, and eventually murdered.
A case under sections 103 (1) (murder) and 238 (b) (causing disappearance of evidence or giving false information to screen an offender) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita has been registered against the accused.
Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, dealing with aggravated penetrative sexual assault, was also added to the case.
How did the police trace the accused?
Three of the accused were arrested from a Kanwar camp in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh on July 18, after the police disguised themselves as Kanwariyas.
The three – identified as Monu and two other minors – who were trying to pass off as Kanwariyas had travelled from Haridwar to Meerut, where they were staying at the Kanwar camp, PTI reported. The police traced the three after tracking the social media activity of one of the minors.
They were arrested on July 18 by police teams from Delhi and Meerut. The three confessed to the crime during questioning, while also revealing the identity of three more accused – eepak, Chandan and Sachin.
The police had earlier arrested two men and nabbed four juveniles.
The police said that efforts to arrest the remaining accused were underway, adding that they were working with a legal team to secure maximum punishment for them.