Both accused were arrested the next day from Meerut
The two people arrested for allegedly robbing and killing a taxi driver in Delhi's Vasant Kunj last October have told police that they committed the crime for money to meet legal expenses, the charge sheet filed by the Delhi Police said.
Mehraj Salmani (33) and Asif (24) from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh had allegedly dragged Bijender Shah, 43, for more than two kilometres under the rear wheels of his vehicle during a carjacking on October 10.
Shah's body was found near a National Highway-8 service road at midnight.
Both accused were arrested the next day from Meerut. Police claimed that both were previously involved in multiple cases of carjacking in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.
According to the charge sheet, filed by the Delhi Police on January 8, both accused told the police during interrogation that they, along with Farman and Abid, had committed multiple robberies and carjackings for which they were arrested and sent to prison in the past.
"... We had to spend a lot of money on legal procedures. To meet our legal expenses, we decided to commit a carjacking and sell the vehicle in Meerut," the duo told police in their confessional statement, which is a part of the charge sheet.
Salmani and Asif also told the police that on October 10, they came to Delhi and reached Saket by a Metro train. The duo consumed liquor and hired a cab (HR38AC 3407) for Rs 500 to the IGI Airport.
"While Salmani sat next to Shah, Asif sat in the rear seat of the car. After travelling a few kilometres, they asked the driver to stop the vehicle. As he stopped, Asif strangled him with the help of a scarf," the confessional statement said.
During the struggle, Salmani pushed him out of the vehicle and sat on his seat. But a hand of the driver remained entangled with the seat belt, it said.
After driving for a few kilometres, they realised that they had been dragging the driver along and Salmani dislodged the body, it further said.
A video of the act surfaced on social media as a passerby had recorded it. Police have booked the duo under sections 302 (murder), 392 (punishment for robbery), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) and 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) of the Indian Penal Code.
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