The young man who allegedly stalked Delhi University student Radhika Tanwar and shot her dead in broad daylight near her college at Dhaula Kuan here on Tuesday has been identified. While a hunt has been launched for him, the police have detained two of his friends for harbouring and helping him escape.
The assailant, 25-year-old Ram Singh alias Vijay, hails from Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh. He earlier worked for a fabric unit and lived in Naraina village. He had allegedly harassed 20-year-old Radhika three and a half years ago and was beaten up by her friends.
Vijay then went to Mumbai, from where he returned to the capital about 45 days ago and started living in a rented accommodation at Shakur Basti.
After the victim's friends disclosed that the assailant's sketch matched with the stalker, the police carried out extensive searches, showing his sketch to the area residents and shopkeepers. Some of them identified him as the person who was once beaten up for harassing Radhika. The police finally located the fabric unit where he worked. The unit, sold thrice in the past three years, did not have a record of its former employees. However, some factory labourers reportedly identified the stalker as Vijay.
With the help of polling agents of various parties, the police located the house where Vijay once lived. They learnt that he had resurfaced about a month ago and had contacted his former employer Kamal for a job, but the latter refused as he had been accused of teasing a girl.
Some local residents informed the police that two of Vijay's friends from his native place Sitapur lived in Shakur Basti. But there the police were told that the duo, Ashraf (25) and Tabrez (26), had shifted to Rohini. They were not found at their present residence. A team was dispatched to Sitapur where they were detained on Friday morning.
During questioning, the duo reportedly disclosed that Vijay had come to their house on Tuesday and mentioned that he had a fight with someone in Naraina. They suspected that he had committed some wrong and the suspicion grew the next morning when they read about Radhika's murder in a newspaper.
The three left for Gurgaon the next day to meet a common friend. He, however, refused to help Vijay. They then went to the Gurgaon railway station, from where Ashraf and Tabrez parted ways with Vijay and went to Sitapur.
Investigations revealed that in the past one month, Vijay had followed Radhika at least twice in an attempt to eliminate her. “He felt humiliated after being beaten up in public for harassing Radhika. He nurtured a deep grudge against her and would tell his friends that he would take revenge at the first opportunity,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (South Delhi) H.G.S. Dhaliwal. The police have learnt that about a month ago, Vijay boarded a bus in which Radhika was travelling but did not get an opportunity to get close to her. He again followed her on March 5 and allegedly shot her dead on Tuesday morning when she was crossing a foot overbridge near Satya Niketan.
Enquires by the police at Vijay's native place in Sitapur revealed that he allegedly stalked women there and appeared to be mentally unstable. He is allegedly an alcoholic and not in regular touch with his family.
