Man arrested for murder, ‘prime witness’ rodent untraceable

Two weeks after a 21-year-old man was murdered and his friend severely injured over the issue of a rodent in Northeast Delhi’s Gokulpuri area, the Delhi police on Saturday claimed to have solved the case with the arrest of one person while another is still absconding.

Interestingly, the Delhi police said it has failed to trace the mouse, which was the “prime witness” to the incident.

According to the police, the arrested accused has been identified as Mohammed Firoz, a resident of Mustafabad area and the absconding one is Rashid, alias Rasso.

The police said that on October 20, it received a PCR call that someone had been shot.

“When a police team reached the spot, blood-stained clothes of the victim were found and it was learnt that the injured was already taken to Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) Hospital where Rizwan had succumbed to his injuries,” said a senior police officer, adding, “his friend Mohammed Ali narrated the incident to us that at about 9 pm, when they were standing outside their office, Firoz, carrying a mousetrap, arrived and tried to release the mouse in front of their office.” The police added that they objected to this after which a heated argument broke out. “After the altercation, Firoz went back but returned a few minutes later with his associate Rashid. Firoz attacked Rizwan and Ali with a dagger. Later, both escaped from the spot,” the officer added.

The police added that a case was filed and probe was launched. On a tip-off that one of the accused is hiding in Seemapuri area and was planning to escape permanently from Delhi, a raid was conducted and Firoz was arrested. During interrogation, Firoz confessed of having committed the crime. The dagger used in the commission of the crime has been recovered as well. The cops are trying to trace Rashid. Both have been booked under Sections 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder).