Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Delhi Police has cracked the high-profile murder of a 52-year-old RWA president, Rachna Yadav, catching the main suspect, Bharat Yadav, and another accused, Nikhil, after a 1,000-km chase across six states. Bharat, also a suspect in Rachna’s husband’s murder in 2023, allegedly planned the killing as the woman was to depose in court, sealing his and other accused’s fate, a source said.Rachna was gunned down outside her Shalimar Bagh home while returning after attending the last rites of a neighbour.The shooters were lying in wait and shot Rachna at point-blank range, killing her on the spot.The killers were using Zangi app to coordinate with Bharat, the alleged mastermind. Nikhil was riding pillion on the bike at the time of murder. In all, police have detained five-six suspects, including two men who had allegedly sheltered the shooters. Their roles are being verified and at least four of them are likely to be arrested. Raids were being conducted in Bihar and Panipat late on Monday.When asked about arrests, special CP (law and order) Ravindra Yadav said he would not comment on an ongoing investigation. “We have definite leads and are close to solving the case,” he said.However, sources confirmed the developments saying police commissioner Satish Golcha had been briefed about the arrests. The breakthrough was the result of a 12-day-long investigation with over 200 cops engaged in different roles. Special CP Yadav had formed 17 teams under additional commissioner Bhisham Singh which carried out raids across Delhi, Bihar, Haryana, UP and Rajasthan in search of suspects.The shooters had waited for over three hours and at least one of them had a Haryanvi dialect. The police then raided a hideout in Panipat and detained a property dealer named Khatri and his brother first.After the murder, the two shooters had fled on a motorcycle before going their separate ways in Rohini to evade detection. The first lead came when the cops recovered the abandoned bike which turned out to be stolen.As the shooters were captured on CCTV cameras, the police used artificial intelligence (AI) tools to improvise facial images of the suspects captured on CCTV from multiple angles. The investigators also scrutinised records of visitors to the jail to identify the people who met those behind the murder of Rachna’s husband, Bijender Yadav. Over 100 people, including property dealers, were questioned in the last few days.Bijender was a property dealer who had at least nine criminal cases against him, including murders and possession of illegal arms. He was also shot in an almost similar fashion outside a bakery in Bhalswa village in May 2023. Following his murder, some of the accused were arrested and jailed. However, Bharat Yadav had been on the run.The incident had raised questions on witness protection plans in place in the city. The family had claimed that they were being threatened since Bijender’s murder, with unidentified men even opening fire in the Bhalswa area to intimidate them. Rachna had been followed and threatened on the way to court, after which she began attending hearings regarding his husband’s murder on video, according to her daughter. However, the woman had still not been provided security with cops not pressing further after she had expressed unwillingness.
