3 years after he killed his rival in public view, fugitive held in Delhi

Delhi Police has arrested a 29-year-old man who had, along with his brother and associate, murdered their rival by allegedly attacking him with sword, iron rods before dragging his body for almost 100 metres in full public view in Rohini three years ago. Police said the man was nabbed from his home in north Delhi’s Wazirpur.

Identifying the arrested man as Satpal Singh alias Satte, police said the murder was the fallout of a longstanding rivalry between the two groups over establishing their dominance in betting- and- drug-peddling racket in Rohini. While Satte and his associate had fled, his brother, Jugraj Singh alias Yuvraj, was arrested from Punjab days after the crime. Police had announced a reward of R25,000 on his arrest.

Additional commissioner of police (crime), Ajit Kumar Singla, said the victim of the crime, Nishan Singh alias Chana, belonged to a rival group and was named a “bad character” at KN Katju Marg police station. In police records, a bad character is a person with several cases against him and whose activities must be monitored.

“On March 28, 2016, the three men attacked Singh and his cousin to avenge the attack on Yuvraj, who ran a betting racket in Rohini. Singh and his associates had also looted betting money from Yuvraj besides threatening to kill his brother. They wanted to establish their dominance in the illegal business,” said Singla.

Police said the attack on Yuvraj left his brother furious. Hence, he decided to take revenge on Singh. On March 29, Satte, Yuvraj and their aide caught Singh and his cousin at Sardar Colony in Rohini.

“They attacked the duo with swords and iron rods in full public view. They even dragged the duo for almost 100 metres on the road. While Singh succumbed to his injuries in the hospital, his cousin survived. The attackers absconded after the crime,” Singla said, adding that Yuvraj was nabbed a few days later.

Last week, the crime branch team received information that Satte had returned home. The team raided his home and nabbed him. His questioning revealed that in order to evade arrest, he had been changing his hideouts in Punjab and worked as photographer, labourer, and marketing agent for different electronic firms, police said.

“Efforts are on to nab the third suspect,” Singla maintained.