Two brothers have been arrested for allegedly killing an 85-year-old woman by setting her house on fire in northeast Delhi’s Bhajanpura area during last month’s riots, police said on Thursday.
The two accused, Arun, 26, and Varun, 22, who lived in the victim’s neighbourhood in Gamri village, were arrested by the Crime Branch of the Delhi police on March 11. They were identified on the basis of video clippings as well as with the help of locals and eyewitnesses, officials said.
The woman, Akbari, was trapped inside her home when a mob set it ablaze on February 25. Her body was retrieved around 10 hours later when the fire brigade managed to bring the blaze under control, police said.
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Akbari died of suffocation. While her family members managed to reach the top floor of the house in time, she was not able to do so, they said.
According to the woman’s son, the complainant, he had gone to get milk from a nearby shop around 11 a.m. on February 25, when he received a call from his son Asif informing him that a huge crowd had assembled near his house.
The complainant ran a garment workshop on the ground and the first floor of the four-storey building, while his family lived on the other floors.
The crowd barged into the house and set it on fire. The complainant’s family members and 10 other employees rushed to the top floor of the house, but his 85-year-old mother, who was on the second floor could not, a senior police official said.
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He said the other family members and workers of the complainant were rescued from the roof following a rescue operation by the police with the help of locals.
Around ₹8 lakh in cash, a box of gold and silver ornaments and other valuable articles were also looted by the mob, the police official said.
During the investigation, two mobile phones, including one of complainant, were seized as technical evidence. The accused were produced before the court, which sent them to police remand for two days, police said. They were being interrogated in order to nab the other accused, they added.
The violence in northeast Delhi last month claimed 53 lives and left over 200 injured.
