NEW DELHI: A 15-year-old boy, who drove an e-rickshaw as his livelihood, was brutally murdered allegedly by two people in the forested area near Kalindi Kunj, with the intention of robbing him of his vehicle.
The two accused, Sahil Ansari (20) and Afsar Ali (27), after murdering the victim, identified as Gulzar, dumped his body in the forest and later sold his e-rickshaw in Noida, the police said. The victim ‘s body was recovered three days after he was hacked to death, they added.
The incident came to light on February 27 when the mother of the deceased, filed a complaint at the Jamia Nagar police station, reporting that her son Gulzar, who had left the house with his e-rickshaw at around 7pm on February 24, had not returned.
Accordingly, the police registered a case of kidnapping and started looking for the missing boy after forming multiple teams, assigned with specific tasks to trace the boy and the unknown culprits.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (southeast) Rajesh Deo said that during investigation, it was discovered that Gulzar (reported missing) had recently installed three new batteries of the Royal Green brand in his e-rickshaw on January 23 from Choudhary Motors in Batla House, who used to get the supply of these batteries from Babu Batteries, Madanpur Khadar.
“On February 27, Irshad, the owner of Babu Batteries noticed that three new Royal Green brand batteries have been sold at a Dheeraj Rickshaw Repair Shop, near Babu Batteries in Madanpur Khadar, by one Sahil Ansari,” the DCP said. With this crucial input, a police team was dispatched to Sahil Ansari’s location and he was apprehended.
During interrogation, the accused Sahil Ansari disclosed his involvement in the case and and went on to confess to the crime, saying that he was unemployed and was in need of money. “So, he along with his associates Akib and Amir made a plan to rob someone for easy money. They knew the deceased well and were also aware of the fact that Gulzar drives an e-Rickshaw in the area and can be the soft target for their nefarious intentions. So, they decided to rob his e-rickshaw,” the senior officer said.
To execute their plan, the duo lured Gulzar on the pretext of buying something and took him to the Kalindi Kunj forest area, where they murdered him. Later, they disposed of his rickshaw in Noida and sold the batteries at Dheeraj Rickshaw Repair Shop. Co-accused Afar Ali was also arrested.
The body of the deceased was recovered from Kalindi Kunj forest area and the weapon of crime, a knife, was also recovered by the police.