Delhi minor's murder solved after 21 years; couple held after 15-day Bihar camp

New Delhi: Sikander and his wife Manju had changed their locations multiple times in the past 20 years. Given that the husband was a daily-wage labourer, it was usual for them to change places - from Bihar to Delhi to West Bengal. But in reality, they were running away from justice.

On February 10, a team of Delhi Police arrested the couple from a village in Bihar's Banka district.

Their crime - they had allegedly killed a 14-year-old girl in Delhi's Nangloi in 2004 and had been evading arrest since then.

Sikander (60) and Manju (55) were finally caught after the Delhi Police camped for 15 days in Bihar, an official said on Monday.

The were apprehended on February 10 by a team from the crime branch.

The duo were declared proclaimed offenders on July 22, 2006, by a city court, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Vikram Singh said in a statement.

Police said the case dates back to April 22, 2004, when a teenage girl was found murdered at her residence in Shiv Ram Park in Nangloi. At the time of the incident, the minor was alone at her home, as her parents had travelled to Bihar and her brother had gone to Noida to attend a wedding.

When her brother returned home on April 23, 2004, around 4.30 am, he found the house locked from the outside.

"Sensing something amiss, he entered the house from the rear side and found his sister lying dead on the bed. Her throat was slit and blood was oozing from the wound. He raised an alarm, following which police were informed and a case of murder was registered at Nangloi police station," the officer further said.

Police said that despite sustained efforts at the time, the accused had managed to evade arrest and were later declared proclaimed offenders.

"Breakthrough came during a special drive to trace absconders in long-pending heinous cases such as murder and dacoity. A team began re-examining the case records. The team got to know about the accused and camped in Bihar for 15 days to track the accused, and both were apprehended," the officer said.

During interrogation, Sikander disclosed that he was a close associate of the victim's father, Ganesh, and had worked with him as a labourer on waterproofing projects. He stated that he had not been paid wages for several years prior to the commission of the crime. Sikander also said that he had been promised the purchase of a plot in his name from the earnings, which did not materialise either.

Police said that nursing resentment over the financial dispute, Sikander and his wife conspired to kill the minor in revenge. They allegedly slit her throat with a knife and fled the city soon after the crime.

After committing the offence, the couple first took shelter in Ghaziabad for about 15 days, then moved to Barauni in Bihar, where they stayed for nearly a year. Thereafter, they shifted to Kolkata and lived there till 2025, working as daily-wage labourers to sustain themselves while continuously changing locations to avoid detection. Further investigation is in progress, police said.