A 27-year-old constable posted with Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) was stabbed to death by a vagabond for refusing to give him money to buy moonshine in Connaught Place area on Monday night. The vagabond was nabbed after police vetted the CCTV footage.
Police said Shilvaraj, posted with the 48th Battalion in Kashmir, was to resume active duty after a month’s furlough in Kerala. “On Monday evening, he reached New Delhi Railway station and was to board another train from Old Delhi Railway station for Kashmir,” said an officer.
“He took an autorickshaw from outside New Delhi Railway station. As he reached Shaheed Bhagat Singh Marg, asked the auto driver to park the vehicle by the curb and gave money to fetch booze from a store,” the officer said.
While he was in the auto, a vagabond — identified as Sikandar — came and demanded money for hooch. When Shilvaraj refused, Sikandar got furious and attacked him with a needle used for sewing up burlap sacks. Shilvaraj received three stab wounds to the abdomen.
He was taken to Ram Manohar lohia Hospital where doctors pronounced him dead. The auto driver informed police but the accused had fled by then. Deputy Commissioner of Police of New Delhi Vijay Singh said the accused is an alcoholic and a resident of Nizamuddin area. He was arrested with the help of CCTV footage collected from the crime scene. Police have also recovered the weapon used in the crime.
“After the incident, local police staff was tasked to identify the attacker. Three persons were detained, out of them one was identified with the help of CCTV footage,” said the officer.
In another incident, a 25-year-old auto driver was shot at by three persons, including a juvenile near his residence at Sangam Vihar area in South-East Delhi. His six-month-old daughter however, had a narrow escape as she was in his arms during the attack. Police said two persons — identified as Mukesh (24) and Prince (23) — have been arrested while a juvenile has been detained. Police said further investigations are on to establish the motive.