Delhi Police cracks DJB engineer's murder case with 'hoodie clue', accused held

New Delhi, Nov 6 (PTI) A crucial CCTV clue showing a man wearing a hoodie helped the Delhi Police crack the murder case of a Delhi Jal Board (DJB) engineer, whose body was found inside his flat in Rohini last week, an official said on Thursday.

"The murder incident took place on October 31, and the deceased, identified as Suresh Kumar Rathi (59), was serving as an Assistant Engineer with the DJB in the Rohini area. His family members informed the police on November 3 after he did not respond to their calls," Joint Commissioner of Police (Northern Range) Vijay Singh said during a briefing.

He said that immediately, multiple teams were formed and over 200 police personnel were deployed to track the case and arrest the accused. The team visited the incident spot and recovered the body from the flat owned by Rathi in Sector-22, Rohini. The body was sent for postmortem.

He said that Rathi's family members live about 300 to 400 metres away from the flat where he was found dead, and Rathi used to visit that house frequently.

During the investigation, the police checked over 200 CCTV footage clips from around the locality and found visuals of a man wearing a hoodie who was seen trying to hide his face under the cap.

"We examined the entry and exit footage and obtained a clue about the accused. Through technical surveillance, we found that he had entered the flat around 9 pm, but there was no footage of him exiting it," the Joint CP said.

Further analysis of the footage revealed that the accused had first met Rathi on October 25 at a 'paan shop' in Sector 31, Rohini, where they were seen talking.

"He again met Rathi on October 27 at the same shop, suggesting that he had been making acquaintance with the victim as part of his plan," the officer said.

The police team traced a scooter that was seen in the CCTV near the crime scene and found it registered in the Aman Vihar area. After verifying several dossiers of known offenders, the team zeroed in on Bunty, whose appearance matched the man seen in the footage.

"Bunty is a history-sheeter and has six previous criminal cases registered against him, including those related to theft, the Arms Act, and the Gambling Act. He had been switching his mobile phone on and off repeatedly to evade tracking and was in contact with his family members to check if any police team had visited his house," Singh said.

According to the police, Bunty had already planned the murder in advance.

"He concealed a knife under his hoodie when he went to Rathi’s flat on October 31. During interrogation, he confessed to having killed Rathi with the intention of robbing him," the Joint CP said.

Police said that after committing the murder, the accused decamped with jewellery and cash from the flat.

"All the robbed items, including jewellery and cash, have been recovered from the accused. The police also seized two mobile phones and the scooter used in committing the crime," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Rohini) Rajeev Ranjan said.

During the days following the murder, Bunty kept changing his locations to avoid arrest.

"On November 1, he was seen in the Kashmere Gate area, on November 2 near Aman Vihar, on November 3 around Vikaspuri and Peeragarhi and on November 4 near Madhuban Chowk," Ranjan said.

Police said the accused was finally apprehended after a sustained operation that involved multiple police teams working simultaneously across various locations.

"Based on the technical and human intelligence inputs, Bunty was traced and apprehended. During sustained interrogation, he disclosed that he had planned to rob Rathi after gaining his trust. On the night of October 31, he visited Rathi’s flat under the pretext of meeting him and murdered him before escaping with valuables," said the DCP.

He added that the body of Rathi was recovered from his flat on November 3 after his family informed the police that he was not responding to calls. Further investigation is underway to verify the exact sequence of events and determine whether the accused had any accomplices or had disposed of any stolen property before his arrest.

Further investigation into the matter is underway, police said. PTI BM HIG