17-year-old murder suspect in Delhi detained for 4th time in a year

A 17-year-old boy, who was out on bail for allegedly murdering a woman in Uttam Nagar, was apprehended on Tuesday after a video of him firing a gun outside a house in the same neighbourhood was circulated on social media.

According to police, the boy had himself circulated the video over WhatsApp and appeared to be “marking his comeback” since getting bail.

This is the fourth time that the boy has been apprehended since November last year.

Police said they were informed of the latest firing incident on June 1. Deputy commissioner of police (Dwarka) Anto Alphonse said a case was registered and investigation initiated.

“In the video, the juvenile is seen abusing another man, accusing him of having complained against him. The video was recorded by one of the juvenile’s associate who was accompanying him,” the DCP said.

On Tuesday police were informed that the minor would be at the Uttam Nagar Bus Terminal on Kali Basti Road.

“On this, our team laid a trap and the boy was apprehended. We recovered a loaded pistol from his person,” the officer said.

The 17-year-old has had multiple run-ins with the law.

The boy had allegedly shooting dead a woman on January 1 this year. The victim had allegedly refused to pay extortion money. Six days later, he was apprehended and sent to a juvenile correctional home. His mother bailed him out on May 20.

Earlier, in November 2018, the juvenile had allegedly fired multiple rounds in front of another house in Uttam Nagar.

“He was apprehended and was later released on bail. On December 31, he was again apprehended in Bindapur in an arms act case and because he was a minor, the court handed him over to his family. The next night, he allegedly shot dead the woman in Uttam Nagar. On January 4, he made an extortion call,” said DCP Alphonse.

Police said, they have not found any criminal record of the man at whose house the juvenile was firing. “Criminal rivalry between the two has not been found so far. They are known to each other and were friends earlier but had a fight,” said an officer investigating the case who is not authorised to speak to media.

First Published: Jun 06, 2019 03:37 IST