Key suspect in murder of 5 of family gunned down in police encounter

The key suspect in the murder of five members of a family -- a couple and their three daughters aged between 1 and 8 years -- in Meerut earlier this month was gunned down in retaliatory firing during an encounter with the police in Meerut on Saturday early morning, confirmed Uttar Pradesh director general of police (DGP) Prashant Kumar.

He said the key suspect was tracked after a chase of nearly 15 days.

The suspect, identified as Naeem alias Zameel alias Guddu, was also wanted in connection with a double murder committed in Mumbai in 2006 and a murder in Delhi in the year 2000.

He said a reward of ₹50,000 was declared on the suspect by Meerut range deputy inspector general (DIG) Kalanidhi Naithani after his involvement surfaced in the gruesome murders of his stepbrother Mohd Moin, his wife Aasma and their three daughters Afsha (8), Aziza (4) and Adiba (1).

“On January 9, the brutally hacked bodies of five members of a family, including the couple and their daughters, were found in their one-room rented house in Sohail Garden locality under Lisarigate police station of Meerut. Naeem, whose last location was found with the family and was missing after the incident, and his adopted son Salman were suspected to be involved in the murders allegedly executed by hacking them to death after giving food laced with sedative on January 8- 9 night,” said Meerut zone additional director general Dhruv Kant Thakur.

The DGP said the suspect, who had come to visit some of his family members, opened fire on a police team when they tried to arrest him near Samar Garden in the Madina Colony area.

He said Naeem was wounded in retaliatory firing by police and declared dead while being rushed to a local hospital.

Another police official said Naeem had multiple identities and people knew him by different names in Meerut, Delhi and Maharashtra. He said Naeem was wanted in the murders of two Azamgarh traders Shadab and Asad in Mumbai over a dispute related to a plot in the Mumbra area on January 22, 2006.

“He had buried the bodies of the two traders on the same plot after committing the crime. Similarly, he and his brother Tasleem were accused in the murder of a relative in Delhi in 2000,” said a senior police official privy to the investigation.

He said Naeem stayed under the identity of Hussain at his hideout in Mumbai. He was known as Zameel at another hideout in Malad, Mumbai and called himself Guddu in Delhi. He said so far, police had discovered his three wives and families at three different places in Mumbai and Delhi, but he did not approach any of them after committing the crime and was suspected to have stayed in a new city with a new identity.