New Delhi:

An accused in a 2016 robbery and murder case, who jumped bail in 2020 and was on the run, has been arrested by Delhi Police from Bihar Muzaffarpur. According to report by news agency IANS, Vinod Sahani was granted bail during the Covid pandemic and he had been evading arrest since then.

Sahani is an accused in the robbery and murder case dating back to June 16, 2016. Five robbers entered a a farmhouse at DLF Chattarpur in south Delhi and stole valuables. The robbers killed Rohan Gupta, a 39-year-old businessman, when he tried to resist them. The accused were caught when they tried to escape because a neighbour had called in the cops after hearing noises from the farmhouse. The accused were charged under multiple sections, including those relating to murder and robbery.

Sahani was granted bail along with many other prisoners during the Covid pandemic. But after the bail period ended, he did not go back to jail. In December 2022, after police failed to reach him, Sahani was declared a Proclaimed Offender.

A team from the Anti-Robbery and Snatching Cell of Delhi Police Crime Branch was given the task of tracking him down. The team got a tip-off that Sahani was hiding on the outskirts of Muzaffarpur. Accordingly, informers were asked to keep watch. Police recently got information that Sahani would step out of his hideout and travel on the highway. The team managed to finally nab him.

Sahani has told police during questioning that he was living in a shack and worked as a driver to earn a living. Sahani has another Arms Act case against him.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Crime Branch, Amit Goel, has praised the team for tracking down the fugitive. “The Delhi Police is committed to ensuring that those who try to escape the law will eventually be brought to justice,” he said.

New Delhi:

A 60-year-old ex-Navy employee who faked his death for 20 years was arrested by Delhi Police Crime Branch for allegedly killing a relative and burning to death two labourers, police said on Tuesday. Balesh Kumar was arrested from a house in Najafgarh where he was staying with his family having changed his name to Aman Singh, police said.

Balesh was 40 when he allegedly killed his brother-in-law, Rajesh alias Khushiram, over money in Delhi’s Bawana area in 2004. He also allegedly had an illicit relationship with Rajesh’s wife.

Police in 2004 arrested Balesh’s brother Sundar Lal, who was also involved in Rajesh’s murder, however, Balesh managed to give them a slip.

According to Special Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Yadav, Balesh, who was in a transport business then, escaped in a truck to Rajasthan.

There he set his truck on fire and burned two of his workers to death.

“Rajasthan Police during the course of investigation identified one of the persons as Balesh, while the other body remained unclaimed. The family members of Balesh also identified one of the bodies as his,” Yadav said.

Rajasthan Police closed the case assuming the prime suspect was dead.

After faking his death, Balesh fled to Punjab and managed to procure forged identity proof with the help of his family members and changed his name to Aman Singh.

“He remained in touch with his wife and managed to transfer his insurance claim benefits and pension from the Indian Navy to her. Also, the truck involved in the incident was registered in the name of his brother Mahinder Singh, who allowed him to claim the insurance. He got an insurance claim for the truck into the account of his wife,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ankit Kumar said.

Balesh then moved to Delhi’s Najafgarh with his family and started living with them.

“On a secret tip-off, we managed to nab him from his house on Monday. During the interrogation, he confessed his involvement in the murder of his relative and two labourers from Bihar,” Kumar said.

The Delhi Police has informed its counterpart in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur about Balesh’s arrest and asked them to reopen the burnt truck case.

The Delhi Police claimed that Balesh had also stolen antique items in 2000 from Delhi’s Kota House and was booked for theft at Tilak Marg Police Station.

Police are probing the role of Balesh’s wife and other family members in his crimes and they all will be prosecuted accordingly, Kumar said.

Balesh, a native of Haryana’s Panipat, studied up to class 8. In 1981, he joined the Indian Navy as a Steward and served there till 1996.

“After retirement, he took a house on rent in Delhi’s Uttam Nagar,” the officer said.

At the time of his arrest, Balesh was working as a property dealer in Najafgarh. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

A Delhi Police head constable was arrested yesterday for the murder of his former colleague, two years after he allegedly choked her to death and threw her body in a canal. Behind the arrest of Surendra Rana (42) was a long wait and relentless pursuit of justice by the victim Mona Yadav’s family.

Recounting the harrowing journey to find the truth about her missing sister and the struggle to get her justice, Mona’s elder sister broke down several times in the office of a senior police officer. As she spoke of a family’s dreams for its daughter and how they turned to ashes, those present in the office, including some journalists, were left speechless. She fainted several times as she spoke.

The woman, who did not want to be identified, said they were from Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh. “We were three sisters. Mona was the youngest. Our father worked as a sub-inspector with UP police. In 2011, he died of a bullet injury,” she said.

Mona, she said, was an ace student. “Our father wanted Mona to become an IAS officer. After his death, she resolved to make his dream come true,” her sister said.

Mona, she said, got a job with Delhi Police in 2014. It was during her posting at the control room that she met Rana. The head constable, who was married, allegedly murdered 27-year-old Mona in 2021 after she turned down his proposal. Two of his brothers-in-law have been arrested for allegedly helping him in a cover-up.

“Rana would often come home, we never suspected any wrong intention. Mona then got a job in Uttar Pradesh police. In 2020, she started living in Mukherjee Nagar and preparing for UPSC, the civil services entrance exam,” she said. “Surendra used to call her ‘beta’ and took care of her. We never suspected anything. Then Mona went missing in 2021. We asked Surendra, but he said he had no clue about her whereabouts.”

In October 2021, Mona’s sister registered a missing complaint at Mukherjee Nagar police station. Surendra accompanied her.

The head constable put in motion an intricate plan to cover up his crime by convincing Mona’s family that she was alive, but did not want her family to contact her. He got his brother-in-law Rabin to call up Mona’s family members. Rabin introduced himself as “Arvind” and said he and Mona had married, but were hiding because his family was opposed to their marriage.

“We were suspicious. Why wasn’t Mona speaking to us? She was an educated woman and we had never stopped her from doing anything,” her sister said.

Surendra, she said, would send Mona’s family audio recordings in which he was heard asking her to return home. The cop had some audio clips in Mona’s voice. He would edit them to add his voice and simulate a conversation.

“I travelled across five states to look for my sister. Every time her ATM card was used, I would go to that state. When I saw CCTV footage from the ATM kiosks, I would see a man wearing a helmet. Surendra would share information about hotels or dhabas and I would rush to them, hoping to find Mona,” said her sister, who works as a school teacher.

“I could not get leave daily to look for my sister. There were days when I would finish work, go to police stations for information about Mona. Some days, it would get so late that I could not even go home. I returned to school in the same clothes as the fay before. On one occasion, I got information that Mona was in Karnataka. I took leave and travelled there. Now I know the call was made by Surendra’s wife Rabin,” she said.

To draw Mona’s family deeper into his web of lies, Surendra got a woman vaccinated and got a Covid jab certificate in Mona’s name. “We had started suspecting Surendra, but we had no proof. When we spoke to the cops at Mukherjee Nagar police station, they said, ‘your sister has eloped’. Our family was shattered, but I did not lose hope,” she said, fighting back tears.

Eight months after she registered the missing complaint, a case was filed, but there was no breakthrough whatsoever. Two months back, Mona’s sister met Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora and shared her heart-rending account. The case was transferred to the crime branch, which cracked it within two months.

Her sister is now waiting for strict punishment for the accused. She has requested senior police officers to recover Mona’s remains so that the family can perform her last rites.