February riots: Delhi police arrest man who shot dead law student in Shiv Vihar

The Delhi police crime branch team probing the February riots said Sunday that a man, who carried a reward of Rs. 1 lakh on his arrest for allegedly killing a 26-year-old law student near a school in Northeast Delhi, has been arrested.

Mustaqeem, 25, alias Sameer Saifi, a resident old Mustafabad, who allegedly shot dead Rahul Solanki near Rajdhani Public School in Shiv Vihar on February 24, was arrested by a special investigation team on September 3, police said.

He has been sent to judicial custody, they said.

Mustaqeem joined the protest against CAA and NRC near Farukia Masjid, they added.

Solanki was pursuing LLB from a private college in Ghaziabad and had stepped out of his home to buy milk when he was killed.

The SIT has arrested seven other accused -- Arif, Anis, Sirajuddin, Salman, Sonu, Saifi and Irshad -- in the Solanki case and they have been charge-sheeted for actively participating in the riots with a common objective to cause death, burn properties on February 24, police said.

Solanki was shot dead near Rajdhani Public School and a case was registered at Dayalpur police station. Later, the investigation was handed over to the SIT.

During the investigation, eyewitnesses described the person who opened fire on Solanki. They identified the accused from his clothes and appearance after they were shown a video of the incident, a senior police officer said.

"We had deployed our sources in Mustafabad to identify the alleged shooter on the basis of his description. Our team questioned hundreds from the area and verified their presence at the spot through physical and technical means. But we did not find any information. After six months, on September 3, one of our sources informed us and he was apprehended from Bhajanpura Majar," the officer said.

Mustaqeem denied his involvement Initially but accepted after detailed questioning, he said.

The country-made pistol used in the crime was recovered along with five live cartridges at his instance. A mobile phone and the clothes, including the jeans pant, shoes and helmet, which he was wearing at the time of committing the crime have also been found, police said.

Mustaqeem studied up to class 10 but dropped out to work as a carpenter, they said.