Delhi: On the run for 14 years, 3 of family held for burning woman alive

Delhi: On the run for 14 years, 3 of family held for burning woman alive

New Delhi, Delhi Police Crime Branch has apprehended three members of a family who had been on the run for 14 years after allegedly burning a woman alive, an official said on Friday.

Delhi: On the run for 14 years, 3 of family held for burning woman alive

In 2010, Roshan Aara was set ablaze in her home in northeast Delhi's Gokul Puri allegedly by Mustafa, Masooma, and Zarrar Khan, Special Commissioner of Police Devesh Chandra Srivastva said.

Following the gruesome crime, an FIR was registered at Gokul Puri Police Station, he said.

The three accused, natives of West Bengal’s Asansol, belong to the same family and went absconding shortly after the murder, the officer said, adding that they remained elusive, assuming fake identities and moving across states to evade arrest.

It was not immediately known why the trio committed the crime.

"In December, 2011, a court officially declared them ‘Proclaimed Offenders’ and recently, a reward of ₹1.5 lakh was announced by the Delhi Police Commissioner for information leading to their capture," the Special CP said.

The officer said that a team gathering intelligence, analyzing social media profiles, and reviewing call detail records led to the identification of a crucial clue.

"A customer application form with a photograph of Mustafa, though the personal details had been altered, was recovered by the team,” he said.

The team's first breakthrough came in Jamshedpur in Jharkhand where Mustafa was living under a fake name, Abdul Karim, Srivastva said.

“Later, he was apprehended on December 11 at around 5.30 am. His interrogation revealed the whereabouts of Masooma, who had adopted the identity of Reshma Hafiz and was also residing in Jamshedpur. Subsequently she was also apprehended," he said.

Further questioning disclosed that Zarrar Khan was hiding in Khoda Colony in Ghaziabad. The team conducted a raid and apprehended him on December 12.

The police said all three accused have been handed over to the local police for further investigation.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.