New Delhi: The Delhi Police have now arrested three men for the brutal murder of a 24-year-old woman — Dolly Babber, who had allegedly refused advances by one of them, following which she was stabbed multiple times and left to die in a pool of blood in the Uttam Nagar area.
Police said the main accused, Ankit Gaba (24), fractured his legs as he jumped off the second floor of an under-construction building in Dwarka Sector 23 while trying to evade arrest. They added that two of his friends were arrested before him, who then led the police to Gaba.
Officials said that investigators have not interrogated Gaba as he was admitted to a hospital, adding that things will become clearer only after his questioning. Gaba's two friends — Himanshu (20) and Manish Sharma — have also been arrested and they are all residents of southwest Delhi's Uttam Nagar area.
On Tuesday around 2.15 am, while an emergency response vehicle was patrolling, they received information from a delivery boy that a woman was lying in a pool of blood near Gurudwara Sewa Simran at Street number-1, Uttam Nagar, a senior police officer said.
Police reached the spot. The victim, identified as Dolly Babber, was rushed to DDU hospital where she was declared brought dead, the officer said.
Inquiry revealed that around 11.30 pm, Babber had gone to attend her friend's birthday party along with her friends Ankit, Himanshu and Manish.
All the CCTV cameras installed in the area were analysed and it was found that the incident happened around 1.38 am. In the video, the accused is seen stabbing her once. Later, he stabs the deceased six more times, the officer said.
Prima-facie it has been found that Babber was known to the three and in the evening, they were partying together on the terrace of an under-construction building at Matiala Road, near Babber's home, where Gaba was also present, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) Shankar Choudhary said.
During the party, an argument broke out between Gaba and Babber over "some personal issues and alleged inter-personal relations which turned into a fight", the DCP said.
They all came downstairs and Gaba, who had reached there on his scooter, took out a knife from the two-wheeler and stabbed Babber in the presence of his friends. After stabbing her, he left the spot along with his two friends.
The police found that the accused desperately tried to get out of Delhi after having stabbed Babber. They reached Patiala on a bus from Kashmiri Gate, following which the police conducted raids in Delhi, Punjab and Haryana. However, the accused ran out of money and had to return to the Capital.
Later, police got a tip-off and nabbed Himanshu and Manish from Dwarka Mor. They then led the police to Gaba in Dwarka from where the murder weapon has also been recovered.
Babber was working with an event management company before the lockdown. Himanshu and Manish also worked with Babber. Gaba has a medical shop. They all live in the same locality, they said.
No earlier complaint from the victim against the accused was received by police. The accused have no previous criminal involvement, police added.