Delhi: Three killers of aspiring air hostess held

New Delhi: Two people have been arrested and a juvenile apprehended for the sensational murder of an aspiring air hostess Riya Gautam alias Charu (21), who was stabbed in full public view this week in Delhi, from Mumbai’s suburban Bandra by an elite team of Mumbai police. They were handed over to the city police on Saturday.

A senior police official said that the accused were identified as Adil alias Munne Khan, the prime accused, and his aide Juned Salim Ansari. Adil had earlier been involved in a few criminal cases.

“The Unit-9 team of the Mumbai police received a tip-off that the accused, who were involved in the murder case of a girl in Delhi, were hiding in the Bandra area. They formed a team and nabbed the accused. Later, the accused were handed over to the Delhi police,” an official said.

While Adil is a resident of Delhi’s Mansarovar Park, the two other hail from Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh. During interrogation, Adil broke down and confessed his involvement in the crime.

“Adil said that the girl knew him for the past three years. He was angry as she had started avoiding him. He then hatched a conspiracy to kill her along with two of his friends. They also did a recce of the area before killing the victim,” said the police official.  

On July 5, Riya, who lived in East Delhi’s Mansarovar Park, was attacked by Khan. He stabbed her multiple times in full public view in a busy market. She shouted for help but no one bothered to intervene. She also tried to save herself by entering into a shop. However, it was empty and the accused followed her inside and continued to stab her. A CCTV footage, which was recovered by the police, shows that she was shouting for help while Khan kept stabbing her.

After the incident the accused fled from the crime scene, leaving the victim in a pool of blood. She was taken to a nearby hospital where she was admitted in the ICU. A day after the incident she succumbed during the course of treatment. 

A case of murder under Section 302 of the IPC was then registered with the Mansarovar Park police station. However, the accused was absconding since then. 

The family members of the victim alleged that in April, Riya had lodged a complaint against Khan but the police did not pay any heed to her complaint.

A senior police official said that on July 5, before the murder of the victim, the accused had a fight with Riya near her house. Later, she was stabbed by Khan in a busy market.

“When she was returning from a shop, the accused stopped her and tried to engage her in a conversation. But when she ignored him, he attacked her,” said a police official, quoting a witness.

The police has said that the victim and the accused knew each other. Later, however, Riya distanced herself from him and her indifference irked Khan.

She had approached the police with a complaint against the accused in April but he got a whiff of the matter. When his house was raided, it was found that he had fled to Gujarat. Khan had allegedly been harassing her and would often ask her to talk to him.