In a sudden turn of events in Radhika Tanwar murder case, the police on Friday said that a psychotic man, who was assaulted some years back by locals for stalking Radhika, was involved in her killing.
The accused, a former neighbour of Radhika, has been identified as Vijay alias Ram Singh, a resident of Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh. He was working with his friends Ashraf and Tabrez at an embroidery unit in Naraina and is said to be previously involved in some criminal cases, including murder.
The police said Vijay was bashed up for stalking Radhika three-and-a-half-years back. “He felt humiliated and nurtured a grudge against the girl and her family. He is a psychotic. He left for Mumbai 15 days after the assault in search of a job. He planned to avenge the humiliation,” DCP (south) H.G.S. Dhaliwal said. The police said Vijay was regularly in touch with Ashraf and Tabrez and used to talk about the humiliation. “He came to Delhi one-and-a-half months ago and started looking for a job. When he contacted Kamal, the owner of embroidery unit at Naraina, he refused to employ him because of the earlier incident. He then got a job at an embroidery unit at Shakurpur Basti in north Delhi,” Mr Dhaliwal said.
Sources said that Vijay stalked Radhika on two occasions in the last month but she kept quiet about the matter.
“On Tuesday morning, he shot her as she was crossing a foot overbridge and melted into the crowd at the bus stand. After the killing, he contacted his friends, Ashraf and Tabrez, residents of Rohini and told them that he had killed Radhika,” a source said.
He requested them to bring his belongings from the embroidery unit at Shakurpur Basti. “He stayed at Rohini the following night. On Wednesday, the trio went to Gurgaon to search a job for Vijay. But when they realised that the matter was getting media attention, Ashraf and Tabrez asked Vijay to leave the town and saw him off at Gurgaon railway station on Thursday,” Dhaliwal said.
“Ashraf and Tabrez left for their native place, Vishwa in Sitapur, fearing that the police would arrest them for helping Vijay. They were detained on Friday and a police team is on way to Delhi with them,” a source said.
The youth was identified after a sketch prepared by the Delhi police resembled with the description given by the neighbours. The call records of the deceased also helped the cops.