New Delhi, (Samajweekly) A third accused in the April 10 murder of an elderly couple in Delhi’s Gokulpuri area, was finally arrested in Mayur Vihar days after he had been on the run, an official said on Tuesday.
The accused has been identified as Vikas alias Viraj (29), a resident of Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.
Radhey Shyam Verma, 72, and his wife Veena, 68, were found murdered at their home on April 10. The house was ransacked and cash and jewellery were also missing.
Verma had retired as Vice Principal from a Delhi government school in Karol Bagh. The couple had been living in the house since the past 38 years with their son Ravi Rattan.
According to police, the couple’s daughter-in-law Monika had planned and executed the murders with the help of her boyfriend Ashish Bhargav and his friend Vikas.
Monika and Ashish were arrested earlier in the case, but Vikas had been absconding.
Ravindra Singh Yadav, the Special Commissioner of Police (Crime), said that Vikas was arrested from Kotla village after a specific input was received regarding his presence in the area.
“Vikas joined the company of Ashish in the greed of money and to fulfill his lavish lifestyle desires,” said the Special CP.
According to the police, Monika came up with the idea to eliminate the old couple in December 2022, and Ashish agreed to help her.
“After finalising their plan on February 20, they decided to use secret phone numbers. Ashish arranged for new SIM cards and delivered one to Monika at her parental home,” said the official.
Two days before the murders, Monika and Ashish started talking on their secret phones.
On April 9, Monika called Ashish to her place while her family members were away. She took him and Vikas to the terrace and provided them with refreshments while they waited.
At around 1.15 a.m., Ashish called Monika and told her not to come out of her room at any cost.
“He then executed the plan (of murder), and at 2.12 a.m., he called Monika to inform her that he had finished. The next morning, the son of elderly couple and Monika’s husband, Ravi found the bodies and informed Monika, who then called her family members for help,” said the official.
Verma and his family were planning to sell their property to buy a house in Dwarka area.
However, they couldn’t find a single buyer willing to pay the asking price of Rs 1.5 crore, so they decided to sell the property in parts.
