A 23-year-old man checked himself into a drug rehabilitation centre after murdering his female friend's brother in a fit of drunken rage in outer Delhi's Mongolpuri a week ago, but his cover was blown on Saturday.
Bid to mislead probe
Identified as Sourabh, the accused had murdered Uttam Prakash, 35, when he bumped into the latter after meeting his sister on January 13. In a bid to mislead investigations he then got himself admitted to a drug rehabilitation centre in Khanpur from where he was arrested early on Saturday morning, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer) Rishi Pal.
Sourabh had also given a fake address to the rehabilitation centre to throw the police off track, said Mr. Pal. On January 13, Prakash bumped into Sourabh when he was returning after meeting his sister in Mangolpuri.
“Both of them were drunk and they got into an argument after which the accused hit the victim, who fell to the ground. Sourabh repeatedly hit him with a stone and crushed his head to hide his identity,” said Mr. Pal.
The accused thought of an alibi and went to the rehabilitation centre at Khanpur and got himself admitted on the day the murder was reported, the DCP said, adding that Sourabh wanted to give an impression that he had been admitted to the rehabilitation centre for a long time and could not have been present at the time and place of the crime, he said.
The DCP added that the accused took away the mobile phone and wallet of the deceased to make it look like a robbery.
Search for missing locals
Local criminals who were involved in robberies in the past were interrogated at length, said Mr. Pal.
“A systematic search of young persons living in nearby localities, who were found to be absent from their residence, was launched and some were found missing from their houses for the last three to four days. Sourabh was held after questioning, the DCP said.
