Two men hired to kill human rights activist held from Delhi's RK Puram

NEW DELHI: Two men, who were allegedly hired to kill human rights activist Sushil Pandit, were arrested from the RK Puram area here, the Delhi Police said on Saturday.

Sukhvinder (25) and Lakhan (21), both residents of Kotkapura in Punjab's Faridkot, were arrested on Friday, the police said.

Pandit is a human rights activist and the chief executive officer (CEO) of Hive Communications India Private Limited.

The accused knew each other from Faridkot and were sent to Delhi at the behest of a man named Prince, who is a childhood friend of Lakhan and is facing a murder trial in Faridkot, the police said, adding that these facts are being verified.

"We received secret information that the two men were looking for a rented accommodation in RK Puram. We found out that they were sent by their childhood friend Prince to kill Pandit. We are verifying all facts. We arrested them and seized four pistols from their possession. Two of the pistols were foreign-made," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southwest) Ingit Pratap Singh said.

During interrogation, the accused told the police about the "conspiracy" to kill Pandit.

It emerged that Prince promised Rs 10 lakh each to the accused if they succeeded in assassinating Pandit and gave them the firearms along with four cartridges and a mobile phone that had the activist's photograph stored in it, the officer said.

A case has been registered against the duo under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) dealing with criminal conspiracy and the Arms Act, the police said.

Suspecting the involvement of foreign entities in the matter, the case has now been transferred to the Special Cell, they added.

The police said from a preliminary enquiry, it appears that the accused did not know Pandit.

"The accused do not have any previous criminal record nor did they know why Prince wanted to get Pandit killed. The duo wanted to make easy money. They were supposed to receive further information from someone in Punjab regarding Pandit's whereabouts," a police officer said.