One of the three men who were convicted and later acquitted in the 2012 Chhawla gang rape case has been arrested for stabbing an autorickshaw driver to death, police officials said on Friday.
Vinod, 35, was arrested on Sunday for allegedly murdering an auto-rickshaw driver on January 26. He, along with Ravi and Rahul, was convicted and sentenced to death by a Delhi court in February 2014 — a verdict that was upheld by the Delhi high court in August the same year, for allegedly gang-raping and murdering a woman whom the three had abducted from near her house in Chhawla camp.
The Supreme Court acquitted them on November 7, 2022, pointing to gaping holes in the police investigation. The police officers who arrested Vinod on Sunday, along with one of his associates, said that they allegedly stabbed to death the auto driver on the road outside Netaji Subhash Apartments in Dwarka Sector-13 on January 26.
They added that the two stabbed Anar Singh, 44, in the neck while trying to rob him. The second person arrested in the case was identified by the police as Pawan, 29.
Deputy commissioner of police (Dwarka) Harsha Vardhan said that on January 26, Vinod and Pawan boarded the auto-rickshaw from Chanakyapuri. When the vehicle reached near Netaji Subhash Apartment in Dwarka Sector-13, the two took out a knife and tried to rob the driver of his cash and belongings.
The auto driver fought back, but Vinod and Pawan stabbed him in the neck. The injured driver rushed out of the vehicle and screamed for help. The attackers panicked and ran away but were captured on a CCTV camera installed near the spot, said the DCP.
“In the CCTV footage, they were seen walking towards Ranhola and then returning to Dwarka area, where they parted their ways. The direction in which Vinod went was not covered by any CCTV camera, so his further movement could not be traced,” the DCP said.
“We raided the house that belonged to his aunt. However, he was not found there. His relatives revealed that Pawan lived in Faridabad. We raided his Faridabad house and arrested him on Sunday (January 29),” added the DCP.
During interrogation, DCP Vardhan said, Pawan identified the second attacker as Vinod who was also arrested. However, police did not know Vinod was acquitted in the Chhawla gang rape and murder case, he added.
“Both Vinod and Pawan said that they killed the auto driver for robbing him. Vinod said it was his first crime after the acquittal,” said the DCP.
Police said the other two acquitted convicts in Chhawla case — Ravi and Rahul — live in the native village in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh.
On February 9, 2012, a 19-year-old woman was allegedly abducted from Qutub Vihar near Chhawla, a few hundred metres away from her home at Chhawla Camp. Her mutilated body was recovered from a field in Rewari district of Haryana on February 13.
On November 7, 2022, the Supreme Court acquitted the three convicts, pointing out faults in the police investigation.