New Delhi
Police identified the accused as Ashrif, a resident of Sarai Kale Khan, who skipped town after the incident and was tracked after four days of continuous technical and manual surveillance. Kumari’s body was found on her bed with her hands tied. “He entered and had planned to steal items and flee, but the woman woke up and saw him. He panicked, hit her, covered her mouth and cornered her into her room. “A team had been tracking his movements.
The Delhi Police arrested a 24-year-old man in Cooch Behar of West Bengal for allegedly murdering a 69-year-old retired schoolteacher at her residence in southeast Delhi’s Jangpura, after robbing her, officers aware of the matter said on Tuesday. On Friday, 69-year-old Preeti Kumari was found dead inside her bedroom and the house was found completely ransacked. Police said that around 3.20am on Friday, Ashrif entered the woman’s house as he knew the main door was always open.
He had already been identified due to his dossier.
He then smothered her to death,” the investigator said. Police said that after the incident, Ashrif went to meet his mother in Sunlight Colony. We found he was staying near a lodge and caught him,” said the officer.
Police said that on Sunday they arrested two men, Fardeen and Alam, with the stolen jewellery and Kumari’s mobile phone. Police said Ashrif first took a bus to Lucknow on Friday night and from there, he took a train on Saturday to West Bengal.
He would often visit Jangpura, Sunlight area and nearby areas, in search of jobs and to meet his mother and a friend. Around a month ago, he saw the victim distributing snacks and tea to workers and asked his friend to keep a watch on her. He soon found out the woman had been living alone, and led a ’good’ lifestyle, due to which he decided to commit burglary at night.”
An investigator aware of the matter, requesting anonymity, said, “He earlier lived in the Nizamuddin area but shifted to Sarai Kale Khan recently.
