Two fugitives held in 2002 double murder case in south Delhi

New Delhi, Nov 21 (PTI) Two absconding criminals were arrested over two decades after they allegedly stabbed a woman and her two-year-old daughter over business rivalry in south Delhi, police said on Friday.

Amalesh Kumar had been on the run for the last 23 years, while his accomplice Sushil Kumar had absconded after jumping parole 18 years ago, they said.

“Amalesh, a resident of Bihar’s Shivhar district and a proclaimed offender in the case, had been living and working as a labourer in Jamnagar, Gujarat. Sushil, his co-accused, had been awarded the death penalty by a trial court, which was later commuted to life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Pankaj Kumar said.

Sushil absconded in 2007 while on parole and had since lived in different parts of Bihar, Karnataka, Gujarat and Maharashtra under assumed identities.

The double murder was reported on January 28, 2002, when the complainant, Anil Kumar, returned to his rented accommodation in Madanpur Khadar to find his wife Anita (22) and daughter Megha dead inside the kitchen, the police said.

The house was ransacked and both the victims had multiple stab injuries. Investigators later established that the murders were committed by Sushil and Amalesh over alleged business rivalry in tailoring work.

Police tracked Amalesh to Jamnagar, from where he was arrested. Meanwhile, Sushil was nabbed from Lalgarh village near the Indo-Nepal border, they said.

During interrogation, the two accused have confessed to their involvement in the crime, they said, adding that further probe is underway. PTI SSJ NB