Cops: Juvenile killed 2 before he turned 18

THE DELHI Police have arrested a juvenile and his accomplices for allegedly committing two murders in southeast and south Delhi within a span of seven days.

According to police, the juvenile is a week away from turning 18, and wanted to “settle scores” with the two victims without having to face the full wrath of the law.

A senior police officer said that the juvenile allegedly abducted and murdered 23-yearold Hemraj from south Delhi’s Neb Sarai area in the early hours of November 29. Then, on December 3, he allegedly murdered 18-year-old Firoz in Sangam Vihar. Police said the second victim was stabbed 20 times with a screwdriver.

“Both murders have been solved with the arrest of five people, including two juveniles. One of the juveniles was common to both cases. He allegedly masterminded both murders. He also planned to commit a few more crimes before turning 18, and had asked his friends to be ready.”

Police said that after Firoz’s murder, several raids were conducted at hideouts and an 18year-old was arrested for possession of a country-made pistol. After sustained interrogation, he told police that he

The juvenile wanted to ‘settle scores’ with the two victims without having to face the full wrath of the law, police said

was involved in the murder of Hemraj along with the accused juvenile. “The juvenile buried Hemraj in Asola-bhatti Bird Sanctuary and sprayed salt on the body so it would decompose quickly,” said a senior police officer.

Police added that the body has been exhumed and a forensics team is conducting the post-mortem.

Police said that the juvenile was picked up and on sustained questioning, he confessed to both murders. “The CCTV footage we obtained at the site of Firoz’s murder shows four people were involved. The juvenile appears to be the leader as he starts stabbing Firoz first. He had been involved in a fight with him earlier,” a senior police officer said.

Apart from the 18-year-old, police have arrested 19-year-old Gajendra and 23-year-old Kamal Kishore in connection with the murders.

The juvenile was also involved in earlier cases of attempt to murder, various assaults and robberies in Sangam Vihar, Ambedkar Nagar and Neb Sarai, police said.