Police zeroed in on accused with help of CCTV footage.

The Delhi police claimed it had cracked the Lajpat Nagar murder-cum-robbery case in where an elderly woman was bludgeoned to death and arrested an employee working at the shop run by the victim’s family.

Identified as Kamlesh, alias Kamal, the accused was arrested from his hometown of Uttar Pradesh’s Barabanki, said a senior police officer.

The police had zeroed in on Kamal with the help of CCTV footage, recovered near the victim’s house, in which the accused was seen walking with a packet. Kamal emerged as the prime suspect as he was recorded by the CCTV installed near the Lajpat Nagar-I house of the victim since he was on two-week leave from work, said the officer.

The police recovered cash and valuables Kamal had allegedly stolen from the house after killing the victim, Vimla Ahuja. She was found in a pool of blood by her son Ajay in her kitchen on Sunday afternoon. She had been hit by a heavy blunt object on her head when she was alone at home.

During the investigation, the police had started questioning all the employees of the shop and learnt that Kamal had gone home on leave. However, while scanning the CCTV footage, the police noticed him.

Investigation revealed that Kamal had been working at the purse shop owned by the victim’s husband and son in Lajpat Nagar’s Central Market for over six months. A team was then sent to Kamal’s village to arrest him. He is learnt to have confessed to his involvement in the murder and at his instance, valuables robbed from the house were recovered and Kamal was formally arrested. He is expected to be brought to the capital by Tuesday night and will be produced in the court on Wednesday. A source said the accused had confessed to his crime.