2 women among 9 held for boy’s murder in Seelampur

Nine persons, including two women and two minors, have been arrested in connection with the murder of a 17-year-old boy in northeast Delhi’s Seelampur area, the Delhi Police said on Sunday.

The deceased, Kunal, a resident of New Seelampur, was stabbed multiple times on the evening of April 17 in J-Block Jhuggi. He was rushed to JPC Hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.

The police said those arrested had been identified as Sahil (18), Sohaib (35), Nafish (32), Aneesh (19), Zahida (42) and Vikas (29), while two juveniles were apprehended on April 19.

Zikra (19), locally known as ‘lady don’, was arrested on April 18 and sent to two-day police custody. Zikra reportedly worked as a bouncer for the wife of gangster Hashim Baba, who is currently lodged in jail.

According to senior police officials, Zikra, Sahil and the two minors were directly involved in planning and executing the fatal attack on Kunal. The remaining individuals were charged with aiding the accused and helping them evade arrest. A case has been registered under Sections 103(1) and 3(5) of the BNS at the Seelampur police station.

“Zikra, Sahil and the juveniles conspired and carried out the attack, while others facilitated their escape and sheltered them,” a police officer said.

Officials believe the attack stemmed from an old rivalry. During interrogation, Zikra revealed that in November 2023, her cousin Sahil was attacked by two men - Lala and Shambhu - both friends of Kunal. Though Kunal was present at the time, he wasn’t named in the FIR being a minor.

Following Zikra’s arrest, police teams carried out raids across Delhi-NCR and parts of Uttar Pradesh, including Ghaziabad, Meerut, Moradabad and Amroha, to track down others involved.

The police said they had gathered preliminary evidence linking all accused to the crime and were trying to recover the weapons used in the crime. Further investigation is underway.