Northeast Delhi riots: Police charge six with 85-year-old’s killing

NEW DELHI: Delhi Police has filed a chargesheet against six people who were arrested in connection with the death of an 85-year-old woman whose house was set on fire by rioters during the northeast Delhi riots. The woman had died of suffocation after the lower floors of the house were engulfed with smoke.
Two arrests were made in March soon after the incident and based on their disclosure, more people were arrested later.
Akbari Begum, the deceased, was with her son and other family members when a mob barged inside her house and set it ablaze. The building was a four-storey structure where the ground and the first-floor housed a garment shop and storage facility, respectively. The family lived on the top two floors. While the other members managed to reach the terrace, the woman had died of asphyxiation.
An FIR was registered at the Bhajanpura police station based on the complaint of Begum’s son. The case was later transferred to a special investigation team.
While probing into the murder, the cops analysed some videos that were viral on social media and later procured them from the persons who had uploaded them. Several mobile phones by which the videos were recorded were traced and seized during the investigation. Statements of the police officers who saved the lives of the family members of Begum after the fire were recorded.
Statements of more than 50 eyewitnesses were also recorded. Based upon the oral, video and other technical evidence, including the call detail records, six accused were identified and arrested.
Police have now filed a 600-page chargesheet in which they have identified Arun Kumar, Varun Kumar, Vishal Singh, Ravi Kumar, Prakash Chand and Suraj to be involved in the murder. The accused were residents of the area and had joined the riots on February 25. They claimed to be led by another group of people who are being tracked down as well.