Rinku Sharma The Delhi Police Saturday sent a Forensic Science Lab team to Mangolpuri, where 25-year-old Rinku Sharma was stabbed to death on Wednesday night. The murder case has, meanwhile, been transferred to Crime Branch.
Five men — Zahid (26), Mehtaab (20), Danish (36), Islam (45) and Tazuddin (30) — have been arrested from the same locality so far. According to police, while Danish and Islam worked as tailors, Tazuddin used to be a home guard at a police station 10 years ago. Police say the accused are related.
While police maintain the murder was the fallout of an old business rivalry, the Vishva Hindu Parishad claims Sharma was killed for being part of a donation drive for the Ram Mandir.
With the families of the accused saying they fear retribution, police have increased deployment in the area, where the VHP has been holding protests. Vinod Bansal, the outfit’s national spokesperson, said on Saturday, “We will hold a prayer meeting for Sharma tomorrow. He was killed because he actively participated in the donation drive.”
Security personnel in Mangolpuri, where Rinku Sharma was stabbed to death
Delhi Police PRO Chinmoy Biswal said they are “looking into all angles and probing the matter”.
Police also said they will make more arrests based on CCTV footage from the locality, which shows 12 men walking towards Sharma’s house with lathis.
As evening set in at Mangolpuri, personnel from local police and paramilitary kept vigil. Said a senior police officer: “Prima facie, the men fought over food business that both sides used to run. The accused and victim owned eateries which later had to be shut because they ran into losses. We have conveyed this to the family but there is tension in the area. As a preventive measure, we deployed forces.”
The AAP and BJP, meanwhile, sparred over the murder. AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj demanded the Home Minister’s resignation and said that earlier only Muslims used to feel threatened under the BJP, but now Dalits, Sikhs and Hindus too feel scared. The BJP, meanwhile, questioned the “silence” of the Chief Minister, with Delhi unit spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor saying: “AAP leadership first tries to ignore such murders or communal riots killings by minority community youths but mildly condemns