Prime accused in Junaid killing worked as a security guard

New Delhi: The prime accused in the killing of Junaid Khan on-board a Mathura-bound train was working as a security guard in Delhi and has confessed to stabbing the 17-year old, a senior police official said on Sunday. The accused, who was on the run since June 22, was arrested on Saturday from Dhule district of Maharashtra. The killing of Junaid had triggered a nationwide outrage. 

The 30-year old accused was arrested on Saturday from Dhule district of Maharashtra. According to the victim’s brothers, who were also eye witnesses to the lynching, they were called “beef eaters” by the accused. Mr Goyal said, “No such thing has come to the fore during the main accused’s questioning so far.”

He said the accused, whose identity was being withheld pending completion of some legal procedure, had boarded the train from Shivaji bridge station in Delhi. 

“During his questioning so far, the main accused has confessed to having stabbed Junaid and attacking his brothers,” he claimed. He will be produced before a court here and his police remand would be sought. “His consent will be sought for Test Identification Parade before court,” Mr Goyal said.

The weapon has not been recovered so far, he said, adding the accused told the police that the knife, with which he attacked Junaid, was in his possession. “It is an open investigation and only after thorough interrogation of the accused will the complete sequence of events in the case come to fore,” Mr Goyal said, replying to a question about sequence of events which led to Junaid’s killing.

“Time limit for this investigation cannot be fixed. Whatever facts we could share have been shared, but in the interest of investigation, revealing more at this stage will not be appropriate. We will share these facts as and when they become clear,” he added.

The fight between the victim, his brothers and the accused in the train started at Okhla railway station in Delhi while the stabbing took place at the station Ballabgarh onwards, he said. When asked about the facts that have emerged with the arrest of the five accused earlier, Mr Goyal said the probe is on. 

“The main accused has been arrested on Saturday only. I am repeating that it is an open investigation. The sequence of events and what exactly led to murder of Junaid will become known after main accused’s interrogation,” he said.

Mr Goyal said it was difficult for them to crack the case as thousands of people travel from Delhi to Mathura daily on the local train. “Different types of methodologies were adopted by the police department and it is a culmination of all those continuous efforts by the police. Which technique exactly led to the arrest of this accused, I am not going to reveal, but a lot of aspects of investigation were touched upon by the police..,” he said.