2 thieves held, 12-yr-old girl's murder solved

Two persons were arrested on charges of several crimes, including murder and vehicle theft, on Sunday. They had also attempted to rob a senior citizen, said police.

“In September last year, a case of murder was registered against Vinod Singh, 23. He got information that a woman namely Meera Gupta was living with her 12-year-old daughter Komal. The woman ran a finance business in Budh Vihar in west Delhi. Singh planned to rob Gupta.

Along with two of his associates, he entered the house and stabbed Komal. Then they fled the place since they met stiff resistance,” said V Renganathan, additional commissioner of police.

After committing the murder, Singh planned to rob a senior citizen in Rohini, who was living alone and who kept a large amount of cash and jewellery at the house.

“The gang tried to gain entry to the house, pretending to be courier boys. But they were arrested one day before they were about to execute the plan,” said Renganathan.

According to police, Singh, 23, and another accused Gautam, 22, are also involved in a series of carjacking cases in Punjabi Bagh. Upon interrogation, the police found out about the girl’s murder.

Singh said he worked as a driver in Rohini but was jobless for the last one year. He needed money, he said. He got in touch with Gautam and found out that he has information about residents in Rohini apartments. Both the accused are also gamblers and drug addicts, said police.

“Gautam is a Class 10 drop-out from Hansarj School in Punjabi Bagh and used to work at a mobile repair shop. Then he turned into a drug addict and to meet his needs, he started stealing vehicles,” police said.

While Singh came in contact with Gautam, the latter was searching for new associates to join his gang.