New Delhi:

Delhi recorded a slight decline in crimes including murder, robbery, rape, and molestation, last year as compared to 2023, data shared by the Delhi Police said.

According to the data, a total of 504 cases of murder were reported in the national capital – down from 506 in 2023. Incidents of robbery also witnessed a decline from 1,654 to 1,510 in 2024. There were a total of 33 incidents of riots reported in Delhi – at least 10 down from last to last year.

Cases of crimes against women also witnessed a sharp decline last year.

A total of 2,076 incidents of rape were reported in Delhi as compared to the previous year’s 2,141 cases, 2,037 cases of molestation – at least 308 down from 2023, and 362 cases of eve-teasing were reported in 2024 compared to 281 in 2023, the data said.

29 incidents of dacoity were witnessed – the same as the previous year.

However, there was a sharp rise in some incidents such as fatal accidents and burglary. While a total of 1,504 fatal accidents were reported last year – as compared to 1,432 from 2023, at least 29,011 cases of burglary were witnessed – over 400 cases more from the previous year.

Also Read | How Instagram Reels Helped Solve Delhi Man’s Murder

Several incidents of gambling were reported in Delhi last year (3,556 incidents in 2024).

Apart from these, officials said that cases related to the Excise Act saw a sharp rise last year. At least 6,443 cases were reported as compared to 5,951 in 2023. This comes as many Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, including former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, were arrested in the excise policy cases.

Delhi saw a dip in most crimes in 2024.

Over 100 criminals arrested in 2024: Delhi Police

The Delhi Police arrested a total of 114 hardened criminals in 2024, including 40 parole jumpers and wanted offenders each. The other arrested criminals included 18 interim bail jumpers, nine proclaimed offenders, four carrying a reward on their head, and three non-bailable warrant evaders, officials said.

Additionally, six criminals were on the run for over 10 years, while three had evaded arrest for eight years.

“A year of tireless effort and precision, the Crime Branch adopted a multifaceted approach, combining advanced technological tools and traditional intelligence methods. With the use of technical surveillance, CDR and IPDR analysis, and informant networks, various dedicated teams traced and captured offenders who had evaded arrest for years,” Special Commissioner of Police (Crime) Devesh Chandra Srivastava, said.

New Delhi:

A man murdered his wife and hid her body in a bed in their home in Delhi with the intention of chopping it up, but his hunger for killing did not stop there. Having fled to Amritsar, he set out for Delhi a few days later, aiming to murder a friend of his wife that he suspected her of having an affair with.

He was arrested on the way back from Amritsar and is now in police custody.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Ankit Chauhan said the body of 26-year-old Deepika Chauhan was recovered from inside a box bed in southwest Delhi’s Janakpuri on Friday. The mouth of the body was wrapped with white tape to delay its decomposition. Investigation revealed that Deepika, who used to work in a spa, was married to Dhanraj, a motorcycle rider for popular bike taxi apps. Dhanraj was an alcoholic and spent all his money on his addiction and Deepika ran the household with her money. 

The police’s probe revealed that Deepika had been killed on December 29 and Dhanraj was on the run. They traced his location to Amritsar and arrested him when he was on his way back to Delhi on Monday.

During interrogation, Dhanraj said he intended to leave Deepika’s body in the bed and then chop it up a few days later so he could scatter the pieces in a deserted place and avoid suspicion. He said he had also looked up ways of chopping up a person’s body on YouTube.

Officials said Dhanraj also confessed that he was returning to Delhi on Monday to kill a friend of his wife that he did not like, but he was arrested before he could carry out the murder. 

Police said even though his phone was off, a UPI payment made from one of his accounts gave Dhanraj’s location away and enabled them to trace him. He had no criminal history. Three phones, including Deepika’s, were recovered from him.

New Delhi:

A 57-year-old businessman was allegedly shot dead in the Farsh Bazar area of Delhi’s Shahdara district on Saturday. The victim, Sunil Jain, was shot dead by two bike-borne men while he was returning home on a scooter along with a friend after a morning walk at the Yamuna Sports Complex.

His friend has now claimed that it could be a case of mistaken identity.

Mr Jain’s friend, Sumit – with whom he used to walk in the morning, told NDTV that the shooters initially told the victim that his phone had fallen off. 

They then asked, “Whose name is Virat”. To this, Sumit responded, “No one”.

But one of the attackers shouted “Yahi hai” (This is the one), pointing his finger at Mr Jain.

The attackers then allegedly fired eight shots at Mr Jain.

The police are on the lookout for ‘Virat’ and are also investigating the angle of mistaken identity.

According to a preliminary investigation, a minor was arrested last month for killing two people, Akash Sharma and Rishabh, in the national capital. The minor’s father’s name was found to be Virat, officials said.

However, it has yet to be ascertained whether he is the same Virat that the shooters were looking for.

“We are probing the case from all angles,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) Prashant Gautam said, adding that CCTV footage from the area is being scanned.

The police have also revealed that Jain’s shooters used 9mm and 7.61 mm pistols to kill the businessman.

The victim was a resident of Krishna Nagar and owned a utensils business.

According to his family, Jain did not have any rivalry with anyone, the police said.

The accused are currently on the run.

New Delhi:

Cracking the case of the grisly murder of a couple and their 23-year-old daughter in South Delhi’s Neb Sarai in a few hours, the police have said that the killings were carried out by the couple’s son, who had claimed to have been on a morning walk at the time.

The son had not only alerted the police about the murders but also allegedly called up his uncle and informed him. Officials said he had stabbed his family to death in their sleep because he had been “humiliated” by his father and had found out that his parents intended to leave their property to his sister. The police said he had been planning the murders for a while and had decided to carry them out on his parents’ wedding anniversary. He has now been arrested. 

The bodies of Rajesh Kumar, 51, his wife Komal, 46, and their 23-year-old daughter Kavita were found in their house in Neb Sarai on Wednesday morning. Rajesh and Komal’s son, Arjun, 20, had claimed he had left for his morning walk around 5.30 am and found the bodies when he had returned. 

The couple was celebrating their 27th wedding anniversary and neighbours who had seen the bodies had said that Rajesh, Komal and Kavita were stabbed in the throat. A neighbour said Arjun had told them he had left for the walk after wishing his parents a happy anniversary. 

After the bodies were recovered, the police checked footage from CCTV cameras, which convinced them that no one from outside the family had entered the house, Joint Commissioner Of Police Sanjay Kumar Jain said. There were also no signs of forced entry into the house and nothing was stolen or ransacked. 

Mr Jain said that, on further investigation, Arjun’s version seemed suspicious as there were many contradictions in his statements. He said Arjun was taken into custody and confessed to the murders after “sustained examination”.

Motive

Arjun did his schooling at Army Public School, Dhaula Kuan and is a second-year Bachelor of Arts student at Delhi University. He is also a trained boxer and represented Delhi in a boxing event, where he won a silver medal.

Mr Jain said Arjun told the police that his father, Rajesh, was an ex-serviceman and scolded him regularly about academics and chores. Rajesh, the officer said, had also shouted at and thrashed Arjun and “humiliated” him in front of his neighbours recently. Arjun also felt no one supported him in the family, which had led him to harbour a grudge against his parents and sister.

Arjun also felt neglected and isolated, Mr Jain said, and flew into a rage when he found out that his father wanted to leave his property to his sister in his will.

“He premeditated the plan to eliminate his family members. He chose December 4 since it was the marriage anniversary of his parents. To create a web of deception, he went out at 5.30 am to have an alibi,” a statement by the Delhi Police said. 

‘Unimaginable’

The family, originally from Haryana, had moved to Delhi 15 years ago to ensure better academic and career opportunities for the children. 

“It’s a horrific incident. Yesterday, I saw the mother and daughter on their terrace, talking and laughing. Today, they’re no longer alive. Crime has become so common, but experiencing it first-hand has completely shaken me,” Himani, a neighbour, was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

“The mother-daughter duo were approachable and kind to everyone in the colony. It’s unimaginable that something so tragic could happen to them,” another neighbour, Anjali, said.

AAP Attacks Centre

Before the murder was cracked, Delhi Chief Minister Atishi had attacked the Centre, which controls the Delhi Police, and accused it of failing to ensure the security of residents in the National Capital. 

“There was a triple murder in Neb Sarai this morning. Murders are happening in broad daylight in Delhi, bullets are being fired, and drugs are being sold openly. The central government has only one responsibility in Delhi – to provide security to the people of Delhi. They have completely failed in their responsibility,” she posted on X. 

Former chief minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, who had liquid thrown on him – a serious breach of security – during a ‘padyatra’ in Delhi on November 30,  also lost no time in hitting out at the Centre. 

“Three murders in the same house in Neb Sarai… This is extremely painful and frightening. Every day, Delhiites wake up to such frightening news. Criminals have been given a free hand, and law and order has collapsed. Homes are being destroyed, innocent lives are being lost. And those who are responsible are silently watching all this happen,” he wrote on X.

New Delhi:

The South District Police have apprehended a 25-year-old man, Abhay Sikarwar, in connection with the recent murder in Panchsheel Park, Malviya Nagar. The accused, originally from Madhya Pradesh, was arrested in Moti Nagar, where he had been working as a cook.

The police tracked down the accused after an exhaustive investigation, which included the analysis of footage from over 500 CCTV cameras, electronic surveillance, and technical evidence.

The victim, a 64-year-old man Rohit Kumar, was brutally murdered at his residence in Panchsheel Park on November 25.

According to the police, the accused had previously worked as a domestic help on the third floor of the same building four years ago, which gave him a detailed understanding of the house’s layout.

The police also mentioned that the accused was in desperation for money to pay off debts.

On the night of the incident, Sikarwar entered the victim’s home late at night, intending to rob him. However, his plan went awry when the man woke up, leading to a physical altercation. In the ensuing altercation, Sikarwar fatally attacked the victim with a knife.

Further investigation into the case is underway.

Earlier today, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Chief Arvind Kejriwal, along with Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, visited the family of the man. 

Speaking to the media, Mr Kejriwal stated that the victim’s family is in deep shock as the motive behind the incident remains unclear.

“Senior citizens across Delhi are in distress, and businessmen are receiving extortion calls. Shootouts are happening in the city. Crime is rampant in Delhi. I want to ask Amit Shah — when will you take action against this? Since he became Home Minister, the situation in Delhi has gone from bad to worse,” the AAP chief said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

A man and his teenage friend were allegedly stabbed to death by four minors for rash riding in Delhi’s Bawana area, officials said on Thursday.

The incident took place in G-Block JJ Colony in the national capital, when the victims – aged 20 and 17 – broke into a fight with four minor boys over their way of riding the bike.

According to the police, the victims were riding on the road in a “zig-zag manner”. The four accused stopped them, following which the two groups got into a fight. During the heated argument, two of the four accused attacked the biker and his friend with a knife.

The victims were rushed to a nearby hospital, but they did not survive.

Two of the accused are aged 15 years, while another two are 16 and 13 years of age, officials said. The police have taken them into custody.

A case has been registered against the accused for murder and the police have started action under the Juvenile Justice Act.

New Delhi:

“Lady Don” Kajal Khatri, arrested on Wednesday by the Delhi Crime Branch, has confessed to organising Air India crew member Suraj Mann’s killing in January 2023 for a sum of Rs 4 lakh. 

According to the police, the plot was carried out in collaboration with Naveen Sharma, who was paid Rs 1.5 lakh in advance for obtaining the weapons, with the remaining amount to be settled after the killing. However, the plan unravelled when Noida Police arrested Sharma before the full payment was made.

“We are preparing to take swift action against Kajal under the Gangster Act,” Additional DCP Noida Police Manish Kumar Mishra said. Several more names have surfaced during the investigation, and efforts are underway to apprehend all involved, police said. 

During interrogation, Khatri revealed that she is married to Kapil Mann, a notorious gangster currently in jail. The two met in a gym in Sector-11 of Delhi’s Rohini and married in 2019. Since then, Khatri has been an active member of Kapil Mann’s criminal enterprise, providing financial and logistical support to the gang. According to the police, she met Kapil Mann in jail shortly before Suraj Mann’ss murder, where the detailed plan for the assassination was discussed.

The murder of Suraj Mann, 30, was carried out after he exited a gym in Noida. The attackers, riding a motorcycle, opened fire on him as he sat in his car. Initial investigations found that Suraj Mann had no criminal history, but it was suspected that his financial support to his jailed brother, gangster Parvesh Mann, was the reason for his assassination.

Kajal Khatri, operating under the alias “Lady Don,” was acting on the orders of her incarcerated partner, Kapil Mann, to avenge the murder of Kapil’s father. The feud between Kapil and Parvesh has been simmering for years. Parvesh, currently imprisoned in Mandoli jail, is accused of orchestrating Kapil’s father’s murder. Kapil retaliated by ordering the hit on Parvesh’s brother, Suraj Mann, as retribution.

Khatri had been evading capture since the January killing, with a bounty of Rs 25,000 on her head. However, a special Delhi Crime Branch team successfully tracked her down and arrested her.

New Delhi:

A 28-year-old gym owner was stabbed to death by a group of men in northeast Delhi’s Bhajanpura area, police said on Thursday.

The victim, Sumit Chaudhary alias Prem, also ran a tour and travel business and was attacked outside his house in Gamri Extension late on Wednesday night, they said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (North East) Joy Tirkey said Chaudhary was sitting outside his house when he got into a spat with three-four men. The men attacked him with a knife and stabbed him multiple times in the face, neck, chest and abdomen. There were more than 21 stab wounds on his face.

Chaudhary was taken to JPC Hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. He was convicted in a case of attempt to murder and was out on bail, the DCP said.

CCTV footage is being scanned to identify the culprits, he said.

Chaudhary is survived by his wife and a three-year-old son. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

A Delhi man has been arrested for allegedly killing his two new-born daughters and burying them, the police said on Wednesday. Neeraj Solanki allegedly wanted a son and was upset about the birth of twin daughters. He had been on the run since the alleged murder on June 3. He was arrested from Haryana.

Pooja Solanki, who lives in Delhi’s Sultanpuri with her husband Neeraj Solanki, gave birth to twin girls at a hospital in Haryana’s Rohtak on May 30.

“The accused was evading arrest in Delhi and Haryana by changing his locations regularly,” the police said in an official statement. Neeraj Solanki, 32, has been charged with murder after his wife complained to the police.

How Police Probe Began

The police said they began investigating after receiving a call at the Sultanpuri police station on June 3 about the “murder” of the two babies.

The caller said his brother-in-law had killed his 3-day-old twin girls and buried them at a crematorium, the police said.

“After that, police staff was deployed at the cremation ground where the children were buried and permission was taken from the concerned SDM (Sub Divisional Magistrate) to exhume the corpses. On June 5, the corpses were exhumed and preserved at a mortuary in Mangolpuri. On June 6, we conducted a post-mortem. The bodies were handed over to their maternal uncle,” they said.

How Neeraj Solanki Was Caught

A team of the crime branch was tasked with tracing Neeraj Solanki, a Delhi University graduate who survived on rent from his properties.

The police launched surveillance and also drew inputs from local sources.

The police analysed call data and noticed that Neeraj Solanki was changing his mobile handset, SIMs and hideouts frequently to dodge the police.

After raids at various places in Delhi and Haryana, Neeraj Solanki was eventually arrested from Sampla in Rohtak.

During interrogation, he confessed to the murders, the police said.

New Delhi:

A 13-year-old girl and his younger brother were found dead inside their father’s grocery shop in northwest Delhi’s Keshav Puram area on Saturday, police said.

The children’s father Manish, who is suspected to have killed the two siblings, is on the run and efforts are on to nab him, they said.  A call regarding the incident was received at 7.15 pm, police said.  

Manish’s wife told police that both the children had gone to school but they did not return home. Initially, she thought that they were with their father as he would often pick them up from their school, they said.

“She tried to contact Manish but his mobile phone was not reachable. In the evening, when other family members opened the shutter of their shop, they found the two siblings lying inside in an unconscious condition,” an officer said.

They were taken to hospital where doctors declared them dead, he said, adding that their school bags were also lying inside the shop, located on the ground floor of their house.  

According to a police officer, it is suspected that Manish killed his children by giving them some poisonous substance or by smothering them.

“The matter is being investigated from all possible angles and the bodies have been sent for post-mortem,” the officer said, adding the actual cause of death will be ascertained only after the report comes.

During the investigation, it was found that Manish was upset due to some financial issue, however, further probe is underway. The statements of the family members have been taken, police said.

The CCTVs in the locality are being scanned and teams were formed to locate Manish, police said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)