Three arrested in South Delhi for murder of two eunuchs

Nephew hatched the conspiracy to get hold of ‘Dera’ properties in Delhi, Rajasthan & Punjab

Three persons allegedly involved in the murder of two eunuchs in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have been arrested here in South Delhi. Police claim to have seized a firearm and live cartridges besides stolen jewellery and cash from the accused.

While investigating the murder of an auto-rickshaw driver in Mehrauli, the police received intelligence about the suspected role of some eunuchs. Further probe led them to a den of eunuchs at Majnu-Ka-Tila called “Dera” where enquiries revealed that its head and some of her associates were missing for the past one month.

Acting on a tip-off that the suspects would come to Munirka village to dispose of some stolen jewellery, the police laid a trap and arrested two persons on Sunday. They were identified as Satish (37) and Paras (47). “A pistol was found in the possession of Satish,” said a police officer.

During interrogation, the accused purportedly confessed to having murdered the Dera head named Ranjita (50). At their instance, the police also arrested her nephew Laxman, who had allegedly hatched the plot to eliminate her and get hold of Dera properties in Delhi, Rajasthan and Punjab.

The areas under Ranjita’s control included Timarpur, Chandrawal, Ahata Kedara and Majnu Ka Tila. About four year ago, she had purchased some land near Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan for Rs.20 lakh and also set up another Dera in Sri Ganganagar. She bought some more properties for Rs.15 lakh at Hoshiarpur in Punjab last year.

Laxman, her nephew, had been working as a caretaker of the Majnu-Ka-Tila Dera for the past 14 years. Ranjita allegedly used him as a muscleman to silence attempts to dislodge her. In due course, Laxman -- who was paid only Rs.300 per day for the job -- came to know about the Dera properties. He allegedly conspired with Satish, a driver attached to the Dera, and Paras to eliminate Ranjita and another powerful member of the Dera, Sharmila. At his instance, Satish allegedly arranged a firearm and live cartridges from Palwal in Haryana for Rs.30,000.

In mid-April when Ranjita went to Sri Ganganagar along with the three accused and some other eunuchs for money collection, they allegedly strangled her on the night of April 27, transported the body to a deserted stretch and set it ablaze. The next morning, they told the other members that Ranjita had gone to a Hisar hotel in Haryana to meet an old friend. The group then left for Hisar and on the way, the accused disclosed that they had murdered their guru. At gunpoint, they threatened the others with dire consequences if they did not cooperate.

The group returned to the Capital, following which the accused beat up Ranjita’s close confidant Gajinder and threw him out of the Dera. They then started targeting the other members. In the early hours of April 8, they locked up all the occupants on the first floor of the Majnu-Ka-Tila house, took Sharmila -- another close associate of Ranjita -- to the third floor and hammered her to death.

The accused stuffed the victim’s body in a suitcase, transported it to neighbouring Ghaziabad where they set it afire.