NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police has nabbed the absconding key accused in the brutal 2017 Burari murders where Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Chaudhary Munawwar Hassan, his wife and four children were killed, officials said on Tuesday.
The accused, Saheed Khan alias Bunty, who had been absconding since September 2024 after being released on parole, was apprehended by the special staff of north Delhi, the officials said.
“Khan, who was the main conspirator in the murders, had been on the run for over seven months after failing to surrender before jail authorities following his parole,” DCP (North) Raja Banthia stated.
He further said a police team arrested Khan, 35, near his residence where he had come to collect money.
According to police, Khan was a former business partner of Munawwar Hassan and aimed to usurp properties belonging to Hassan in Burari.
In 2017, while Hassan was lodged in Tihar in connection with a rape case, Khan allegedly plotted to eliminate Hassan’s family. On April 20, 2017, Khan, with the help of contract killers, murdered Hassan’s wife Ishrat and daughters Arju and Arshi, the officer said, adding, “Their bodies were buried in a field in UP’s Meerut. Two days later, on April 22, Hassan’s sons Aaqib and Shakib were strangled and buried in a land in Burari.”
When Hassan noticed that none of his family members were visiting him in jail, he sought bail citing their disappearance. Khan allegedly aided Hassan in getting bail. Hassan filed a missing persons report on May 18, 2017. However, just two days later, he was found shot dead at his Burari home.