The accused has been identified as Anil Kumar, a resident of Nihal Vihar, police said. (Representational)
A 58-year-old man was arrested for allegedly killing a property dealer during a robbery bid in west Delhi's Punjabi Bagh area, police said on Wednesday.
The accused has been identified as Anil Kumar, a resident of Nihal Vihar, who already has nine cases registered against him, they said.
Police said that on February 16, a person named Radhey Shyam, 52, was found lying in a pool of blood near the Madipur Bus stand on the Rohtak Road in Punjabi Bagh. He was rushed to a hospital where he was declared brought dead.
During investigation, it was found that on the day of the incident the victim left for his home at Nihal Vihar after 12 am from Sadar Bazaar area. His mobile phone was also missing, police said.
On February 26, the phone was found to be activated in the Sitapur district of Uttar Pradesh, following which a police team rushed to the area where they found the accused was hiding in Bansura village, a senior police officer said.
The police also found that 9 to 10 people from Delhi had visited the place in the recent past to attend a function. The team finally learnt about the persons who had sold the phone to a person there. Later, the team came back to Delhi, the officer said.
"On Tuesday, a tip-off was received regarding the accused, following which the police laid a trap near Cement Siding, Punjabi Bagh, and apprehended one person," Deputy Commissioner of Police (west) Urvija Goel said.
During interrogation, he told the police that he was a drug-addict and he had sold his two ancestral homes in Delhi's Nihal Vihar for drugs. He was now dependent on the money from snatching and robbery, the senior police officer said.
On that night, while the accused was returning to Nihal Vihar from Sadar Bazar on his bike, he noticed the victim in an inebriated condition and offered him a lift, police said.
Later, when they reached near the Madipur Bus Stand, he asked the victim to hand over all his belongings at knife point, but the victim refused and a fight ensued between them, they said.
Kumar slit the wrist of the man and fled the spot with all his belongings, the police said, adding he left for Sitapur to attend a function of his friend.