New Delhi, Mar 11: A mentally disturbed youth from Uttar Pradesh has been identified as the murderer of a college girl in Delhi as he wanted to avenge the humiliation when he was beaten up for stalking her three-and-half years ago, police said today.
25-year-old Ram Singh alias Vijay, who is absconding, followed Radhika Tanwar at least twice with an intention to kill her in the past one month, the last one being three days before her murder on last Tuesday outside Ramlal Anand college in Shantiniketan area of south Delhi's Dhaula Kuan.
The daylight murder of the 20-year-old second-year degree student exposed the vulnerability of women in the city and evoked sharp reactions from public as well as political leaders. Family, locals and college students staged separate protests demanding that the killer be arrested immediately.
Investigators zeroed in on Singh, who introduced himself as Vijay in Delhi, after investigators detained his two friends -- Tabrez and Ashraf -- from UP's Sitapur earlier in the day. The duo allegedly harboured and helped him flee the capital on March 10, two days after Radhika was shot dead.
"He nurtured deep grudge against Radhika after he was beaten up for harassing her and used to tell his friends that whenever he gets an opportunity, he will take revenge. He felt insulted and left for Mumbai," H G S Dhaliwal, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South), told reporters here.
Dhaliwal said investigations in Viswan village of Sitapur from where Vijay hails have revealed that he has a "psychopathic streak" and is learnt to have been involved in stalking women in his village. Sitapur is around 450 km from the national capital.
He returned to the capital at least 45 days ago and had followed Radhika at least twice allegedly with an intention to kill her.
"We have learnt that a month ago, he had boarded a bus in which the victim was travelling. However, he could not execute his plans. Last Saturday, he followed her on the foot-over-bridge," Dhaliwal said.
According to investigators, Vijay had gone to his friend's place in Rohini and told them he was involved in a scuffle. He stayed at their place on March eight and next day left for another friend's place in Gurgaon.
"He and his two friends planned to go to Gurgaon after seeing the extensive media coverage. The friends also got a whiff off what was happening. However, the friend in Gurgaon refused to help as he was scared. The two friends took him to Gurgaon railway station where they got separated from Vijay.
"Tabreez and Ashraf left for Sitapur while Vijay went on his own. We are on the trail of Vijay and expect to arrest him soon," he said.
Asked how they zeroed in on the two friends who allegedly harboured Vijay, Dhaliwal said the detention followed search for acquaintances of those who were beaten up earlier for stalking.
"There were three incidents of beating up of stalkers in the area. We spoke to polling agents of political parties who knew the voters in the area as well as those who did not figure in the voters list.
"We also spoke to owners of ration shops, grocery shops and milk booths who provided inputs about friends of those who were beaten up. This led us to the two friends and one of Vijay's employer Kamal," Dhaliwal said.
Kamal told police that he refused Vijay re-employment in his knitting unit in Naraina in south-west Delhi about one-and-a half months ago as he was "involved in the stalking" incident. It was also learnt that Vijay was a drunkard and not regular at work.
According to his friends who will be "formally arrested soon", Dhaliwal said, Vijay then managed to get a job in a similar unit in north-west Delhi's Shakur Basti where he was staying.
The two friends also visited Shakur Basti unit to take Vijay's clothes and told the owner that he was not well, Dhaliwal said adding Vijay was not in regular contact with his family. He has four brothers and is unmarried.
Upset over alleged police "inaction", residents of Naraina staged a protest and blocked the Outer Ring Road this morning. Students also held protests in various colleges demanding the arrest of the culprit.
A family member of the victim said they will sit on a hunger strike demanding immediate arrest of the culprit. "Our village people have decided to sit on a hunger strike and block traffic on Ring Road till the culprit is arrested," he said. He alleged that the police was not doing anything to arrest the culprit.
A group of students also staged a protest outside National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) demanding immediate action in the case. PTI
