New Delhi: Four days after a 69-year-old woman was murdered during a robbery at her home in southeast Delhi’s Jangpura, police arrested the 24-year-old alleged accused from Cooch Behar in West Bengal. He is being brought to Delhi on transit remand.Ashrif, a history-sheeter previously involved in six criminal cases and a resident of Sarai Kale Khan, was found entering the lane around 3.15am on CCTV camera footage of Aug 21. He allegedly latched the front doors of three neighbouring houses from outside and entered Priti Kumari’s house.Ashrif allegedly murdered Kumari and stole her gold earrings, bangles, other jewellery, cash and mobile phone. CCTV footage showed him leaving the lane around 4am with a bag. Police suspect Kumari may have seen his face, prompting Ashrif to kill her.Sources said Ashrif earlier lived in Nizamuddin and was familiar with the locality. “He learnt about the woman’s routine from some sources, who told him that she opened the main gate early in the morning,” a source said. “He went to the area, found the main gate open and entered the house. As Kumari confronted him, a scuffle broke out, following which, we suspect, he tied her up and smothered her to death,” the source added.Ashrif handed over most of the proceeds, mainly jewellery, to his brother-in-law, Fardeen, and the phone to his friend Alam, with whom he worked at a hotel in Paharganj as a cleaner. “Ashrif told Alam that he had committed a ‘big crime’ and was escaping,” the source said. Police have arrested both.Having been involved in several crimes, Ashrif was aware of police tracking methods and avoided a single mode of transport while fleeing, police said. He travelled by bus to Lucknow and then took a train to West Bengal. Sources said Ashrif avoided using a phone and used public Wi-Fi to access the internet. “His involvement in crime dates back a year or two, and he has been jailed in previous cases.”The southeast district police scanned footage from more than 200 CCTV cameras and created a digital map to track his movements. Police teams raided several locations in Uttar Pradesh before zeroing in on Cooch Behar.
