Twenty days after head constable Ratan Lal was killed during communal riots in north-east Delhi’s Gokulpuri, seven persons have been arrested in connection with the murder, the police said on Thursday.
Delhi Police Public Relations Officer and Additional Commissioner of Police M.S. Randhawa said that the accused have been identified as Chand Bagh residents Saleem Malik alias Munna, Mohammed Jalaluddin alias Guddu Bhai, two brothers Mohammed Ayub and Mohammed Yunus, Arif, and Mohammed Saleem Khan, and Loni resident Mohammed Danish.
The police said that “a conspiracy was hatched to attack the police party” and that the accused are “both conspirators as well as active rioters”.
Sufficient evidence
Mr. Randhawa said that the police have sufficient evidence against the accused in the form of video footage, local intelligence and eyewitness accounts. When asked if the murder weapon has been recovered, Mr. Randhawa said that the police are yet to recover it.
A senior police officer privy to the probe said that the seven accused are not among the ones who shot Lal but among the rioters who were part of that mob. “Munna and Saleem are organisers of the mob and they can be seen in the videos procured by the police. Investigation is at an early stage and this is among the first few arrests made in this case,” the officer said.
Lal was killed on February 24 and later, his autopsy report ascertained that he died of a bullet injury. The deceased officer is survived by his wife and three minor children.
