NEW DELHI: Three men were arrested for allegedly killing a 70-year-old woman and robbing valuables from her house in northeast Delhi's Jafrabad area, police said on Sunday.
The accused were identified as Zahid (22), Nazim (23) and Soheb (23).
Accused Zahid, is the nephew of the deceased, police said, adding that he was staying as a tenant at the same house and executed the robbery with the help of his associates as he was being pressurised by his aunt to return Rs 10 lakh that he had borrowed from her.
On June 8, police were informed about the robbery incident in a house at Ambedkar Basti, Maujpur in the Jafrabad area following which a team reached the spot and found that Abbas, his wife Shamim and Zahid who had sustained injuries during the robbery were shifted to a hospital by neighbours, according to police.
Shamim (70) was declared brought dead by doctors, a senior police officer said.
Meanwhile, the house was found to be in a completely ransacked state.
Crime team and forensic experts inspected the scene of the crime and collected exhibits, they said.
In his complaint, victim Abbas said on the afternoon of June 8, when he along with his wife and Zahid were at his house, he noticed four to five persons had broken into his house.
They threatened and attacked them with knives, the officer said.
Later, the assailants tied their hands and shoved clothes into their mouths before robbing the place, he added.
"During the investigation, multiple police teams were formed. Technical surveillance as well as human sources was also deployed for the collection of local intelligence. One of the police teams scanned and analysed CCTV footage of the cameras installed in the vicinity," Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northeast) Sandhya Swamy said.
"On the basis of intelligence, accessed through local sources, three persons namely, Zahid, Nazim and Soheb were interrogated at length and later arrested in connection with the incident," she added.
During interrogation, Zahid and Nazim disclosed that the former is the nephew of the deceased.
Zahid along with his mother and brothers had been staying on the first floor of the same house on rent and running a belt assembling unit, she said.
Around three years back, Zahid had taken a loan close to Rs 10 lakh from the victim to start his business but couldn't repay, the officer added. Shamim was constantly pestering him to return the money. Frustrated with the daily nagging, Zahid planned to loot her.
He shared his plan with his friend Nazim, who further introduced him to more associates to executing the robbery, Swamy said.
"Since March 23, they tried to rob the house twice but failed," she added.
"The CCTV footage has revealed that on the fateful day, four persons entered the house. Zahid, who was already present inside the house had kept the door open. After his friends left, he acted as if he had fallen unconscious due to an injury when the crime took place," the officer said.
Efforts are being taken to nab the other associates and recover the looted jewellery and money from them, police said, adding further investigation is underway.
