NEW DELHI: The police have arrested a 33-year-old cab driver and his two associates for allegedly killing a 50-year-old man Kenyan national near the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport over taxi fare. The foreign national had come to India for treatment of his heart disease.
The accused have been identified as driver Virender Singh alias Monu (33), Gopal Singh (34) and Dilbagh alias Billu (35), all residents of Rangpuri village in Delhi. The incident took place on Monday.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) IGI Airport, Rajeev Ranjan said, “On May 17, a PCR call was received at IGI Airport Police Station informing that a person was lying dead near the Centaur Hotel. Upon reaching the spot we found the body. There was a mobile phone lying nearby and the last dialled number from it was to one Manoj Sah, a travel agent.”
After contacting the agent the police identified the deceased as Jama Said Farah, a citizen of Kenya. He had booked a ticket through the agent for the Delhi-Somalia flight on May 17.
After the travel agent informed Farah’s daughter about the incident, the latter called Sub-Inspector Sanjeev Chaudhary and informed that her father had come to India two weeks ago for treatment. Due to the pandemic the treatment was postponed. Hence, Farah planned to return to his country via Somalia.
"However, he was denied immigration clearance at the IGI Airport due to lack of a Somalian visa and was off-loaded by the airline,” said the DCP. Police said, “Farah came outside the terminal and took a taxi to a hotel in Mahipalpur. Gopal Singh and Dilbagh were already in the cab with driver Monu. Later, the trio had an altercation with the Kenyan national over taxi fare when they reached near Mahipalpur. Thereafter, the three accused beaten the Kenyan national to death and threw him out of the car near the Centaur Hotel and escaped.”
Police said the trio took away the luggage and other valuable items of the deceased to hide the victim’s identity. “After sustained interrogation, the accused men confessed to their involvement in the offence,” said DCP Ranjan.