Delhi ‘acid attack’ victim’s brother and uncle held, father sent to judicial custody 

The Delhi Police on Wednesday arrested the brother and uncle of a 20-year-old college student who allegedly faked an acid attack in northwest Delhi’s Ashok Vihar area.

The two were identified as Wakeel, 42, and his nephew, the woman’s brother.

Her father, Akil Khan, who was earlier arrested in a separate rape case, has been sent to judicial custody, police said.

According to police, the investigation revealed that Akil, his brother Wakeel and his son concocted the acid attack to get even with the rape accusers.

“To execute the plan, Akil carried out the act himself by pouring a chemical (toilet cleaner) on his daughter’s hand and bag near Ashok Vihar before fleeing … on a motorcycle,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northwest) Bhisham Singh said in a statement.

The officer said the woman, a second-year BCom student, is enrolled with the Non-Collegiate Women’s Education Board of Delhi University.

The woman had originally claimed that three men hurled acid on her near Ashok Vihar while she was headed for extra classes on Sunday.

She identified the attackers as Jitender and his two associates. However, the investigation later revealed that the two associates were her own relatives, who her family had a property dispute with.

During their probe, police found no trace of acid at the spot nor any CCTV footage of the alleged attackers.

A Forensic Science Laboratory team also found no discarded acid bottles.

“After a detailed investigation, it was found that the student’s father and uncle had staged the attack to falsely implicate Jitender and others. The student’s brother dropped her near Ashok Vihar on a scooter, after which she took an e-rickshaw and got off 300 metres before her college gate. This sequence of movement raised suspicion,” the DCP said.

On Monday, police arrested Akil Khan over a rape complaint filed against him by Jitender’s wife.

Akil Khan is also an accused in a 2018 acid attack case in Mangolpuri, registered by the mother of the same brothers whom the student tried to implicate in the fake acid attack story.

In her complaint, Jitender’s wife alleged that between 2021 and 2024, she worked at Akil Khan’s socks factory, where he sexually assaulted her and blackmailed her with her private photos and videos.

The matter was reported at the Bhalswa Dairy Police Station.

The DCP said that Jitender was not involved in the incident.

“He was working in Karol Bagh on the day of the alleged attack, which has been confirmed through CCTV footage and his location details,” he said.