The 21-year-old Delhi Technical University (DTU) student, who was arrested on Thursday for allegedly killing a tuition teacher in Jahangirpuri on Monday, told investigators: “I have saved the lives of many girls by killing him.”
Aakash Kashyap, a resident of Jahangirpuri, was arrested for allegedly shooting 31-year-old Ankit Kumar, who ran a private coaching centre.
The accused allegedly told the police that Ankit had been troubling his girlfriend and forcing her to talk to him, because of which he decided to kill the tuition teacher in March.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (North-West) Aslam Khan said Aakash had gone to his maternal relative’s house in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat in March and bought a countrymade pistol. “When he went to Baghpat, he saw people using pistols and firing in the air. He asked a friend if they were easily available. The friend told him that it can be bought for ₹2,000. So he bought a pistol and returned to Delhi after Holi,” Ms. Khan said, adding that Aakash was waiting for an opportune moment.
“He had exams after a few months and therefore finally committed the crime on October 1 [Monday],” she said.
During investigation, the police scanned footage from CCTV cameras at the crime spot. On Thursday, they spotted Aakash leaving the crime spot in one of the videos. When the police asked the locals about him, they discovered that he was a student of Ankit’s brother Jaiparvesh. Aakash was apprehended from his residence on the third floor.
“He ran as soon as he spotted the police and jumped into the next house... but was overpowered,” said a senior police officer.
When interrogated, Aakash allegedly told the police that he was interested in a girl since childhood but never expressed his feelings. Both of them used to go to Ankit’s coaching centre. He was taught by Jaiparvesh, and the girl was taught by Ankit.
“The girl and Ankit were involved for a year but she broke up with him when she got to know that he had a girlfriend. A few months later, Aakash and the girl got into a relationship and she told him that Ankit had been blackmailing and forcing her to talk to him,” the officer said, adding that the accused never confronted Ankit over this.
Aakash allegedly told the police that Ankit was involved with many women, whom he used to trouble. During technical investigation, the police claimed to have found numbers of and chats with women on the victim’s phone.
Kin’s suspicions wrong
Ankit’s family had alleged that he was killed because of his interfaith relationship with his long-time girlfriend. They suspected the role of the woman’s elder brother. Sources said the woman is now worried about her future as the victim’s family shared her pictures online and blamed her for his death.
“As part of the probe, we called the family for questioning daily. The woman’s aunt told her to leave the house wearing a scarf because everyone knows her identity,” the officer said.