The main accused in the case of armed burglary and murder of 23-year old Ankit Thapliyal in the Nakraunda area of Dehradun in 2014, Akram has finally been arrested by the Dehradun police. The police arrested the Shamli (Uttar Pradesh) native from Muzaffarnagar in the neighbouring state on Wednesday. Police recovered a pistol and five bullets from his possession. In the armed robbery and murder case which had evoked public outrage in Dehradun, Ankit Thapliyal was shot dead by Akram along with six of his accomplices in the presence of parents and other family members. The state administration had earlier announced a cash reward of Rs 50, 000 on anyone providing information leading to the arrest of absconder Akram during April 2015.
Surendra Singh Thapliyal, the father of the deceased, had registered a complaint regarding the matter and a case under appropriate sections of IPC had been registered in the Raipur police station. Five accused - Nadim, resident of Bhagwanpur (Haridwar), Shahzad alias Yameen from Bijnore, Sazid alias Sonu from Jhabreda (Haridwar), Sazid Pahalwan, from Sahranpur and Akhlakh from Roshnabad (Haridwar) are in jail now. However, the principal accused Akram remained elusive.
SP City Ajay Singh said that tipped over his whereabouts, the police had arrested him from Muzaffarnagar. later, while being grilled, he had confessed his crime, he added. Interrogation revealed as per police sources that it was Akram who had fired shot at Ankit as the latter had resisted and attempted to snatch the firearm from the accused. The accused is learnt to have gone to Gujarat following the crime. He was working in a shop near the Rajkot railway station. He is learnt to have recently reached Muzaffarnagar to settle there with his family.
Six unidentified persons had barged into the home of agriculture officer SS Thapliyal at 4 am on September 10, 2014 and brandishing a gun, they had demanded gold ornaments and cash from the family members. Ankit had resisted and had been shot. He had died on the spot while four other members of the family, including Surendra Singh Negi, Videnshwari, Shanti and Anjali (tenant), had been injured after being hit with rods by the criminals. The criminals had decamped with gold ornaments and cash worth around Rs 90, 000 from the house, the investigation had revealed.