Radhika 'killer' nabbed

Vijay alias Ram Singh was apprehended by a team of Delhi Police at Tagore Nagar in suburban Mumbai’s Vikroli  around 11 pm on Friday in connection with last Tuesday’s murder of Radhika Tanwar (20) .Investigators attributed the immediate trigger for the girl’s murder on the foot-over-bridge outside Ramlal Anand College in South Delhi’s Dhaula Kuan to an incident on last Saturday, three days before her killing, when Vijay was snubbed by Radhika when he approached for a conversation.

Police on Friday said Vijay “nurtured deep grudge” against Radhika after he was beaten up for harassing her and used to tell his friends that whenever he got an opportunity, he would avenge the humiliation.

Immediate trigger
“Vijay suffers from psychopathic obsession. He used to follow women. He followed Radhika regularly. The immediate trigger was the snubbing of Radhika when he tried to speak to her,” Delhi Police Commissioner  B K Gupta said.

According to H G S Dhaliwal, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South), Vijay suffered from obsessive compulsive disorder. “He used to follow by an auto the bus which she used to take. Sometimes he also used to board the bus Radhika used to travel.”

Vijay had allegedly fled the capital two days after the murder but was caught within 12 hours of his reaching Vikroli. “He first went to his friends in Rohini soon after the murder and claimed that he entered into a scuffle.

“However, later he told his friends Tabreez and Ashraf that he was involved in the murder of the girl. Seeing the media coverage, they felt frightened and went to Gurgaon to a friend to get a job for Vijay but he refused to help,” Dhaliwal said.

Following this, Vijay and his the friends went to Gurgaon railway station on Wednesday. While the friends, who were arrested on Friday, headed towards Sitapur, Vijay left for Mumbai on Thursday morning.

Gupta said the .315 bore country-made pistol used for committing the murder was seized from his friend Sheku in Piplanji village.

“Besides Vijay, three others who helped him have been arrested,” a senior police official said.

Vijay told the police that he came to Delhi in 2005 and  worked as a tailor at different places but mainly remained in Naraina.

Search for stalkers
Dhaliwal said the detention followed search for acquaintances of those who were beaten up earlier for stalking.

“There were three incidents of beating up stalkers in the area. We spoke to polling agents of political parties who knew the voters in the area as well as those who did not figure in the voters’ list. “We also spoke to owners of ration shops, grocery shops and milk booths who provided inputs about friends of those who were beaten up. This led us to the two friends and Vijay’s employer Kamal,” Dhaliwal said.

Kamal told police that he refused to re-employ Vijay in his knitting unit at Naraina in South-West Delhi about one and a half months ago as he was “involved in the stalking” incident.