The Delhi Police on Saturday said while they had enough clues on one of the accused in the gang-rape case, Akshay, and thus arresting him was relatively easy, they faced several obstacles in locating the juvenile accused, Rahul (name changed) as his photos and contact details were not available and he had also snapped all ties with his family. With the arrest of both these accused on Friday, the police had nabbed all those six allegedly involved in this heinous crime.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (South District) Chhaya Sharma said that after leaving home five years ago Rahul initially worked at some roadside eateries in East Delhi and then joined various bus contractors as a helper. His method of calling out passengers impressed many. This kept getting him jobs and it was at a travel company in Karkardooma where he met one of the main accused in this case, Ram Singh.
During investigations, Ram Singh, who was also allegedly the first person to rape the victim, purportedly told the police that he was contacted by Rahul a few months before the incident. Ram Singh owed Rahul some money. Rahul had asked his former employer to call up Ram Singh to urge him to return the amount.
“It was the phone number of that employer in Ram Singh’s phone that led us to Karkardooma where one Bhatia, another worker at that company, met our team and led us to the bus contractor with whom Rahul had worked.” Ms. Sharma said on the basis of some information provided by other co-helpers of Rahul, police teams raided several hideouts in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. The team sought the help of around 20 helpers who knew the juvenile by his face and based on a tip off, apprehended him on Saturday morning at Anand Vihar Bus Terminal.
A phone was also found in Rahul’s possession which was found to be of Ramadhar Singh, the man robbed and dumped by the same set of accused on their way to Munirka, from where the gang-rape victim had boarded the bus. Ms. Sharma said Rahul had met all others except Ram Singh for the first time on the night of the crime itself.
As for Akshay Kumar Singh, the police said he was a resident of Aurangabad and had fled Delhi after the incident. But he was finally arrested on Friday evening by a police team camping there. Akshay was produced before a city court late on Saturday evening and was remanded in judicial custody. He would also be put to a Test Identification Parade.
In another related development, the Delhi Police has been granted three days’ custody of Mukesh, who was driving the bus on the night of the incident and had been sent to judicial custody earlier.
