Cousin detained to check role in east Delhi ‘honour killing’

NEW DELHI: A day after a man was killed and his girlfriend seriously injured by the woman’s family members in east Delhi, the police have detained his cousin. Cops suspect that Sunil might have informed the woman’s uncle and brother about the victims’ location when they were going to meet a lawyer to solemnise their marriage.
Sources said the victims, Dinesh Kumar (32) and Meenakshi (23), were being accompanied by Sunil who had promised to help them.Dinesh had also booked the app-based cab in which they were travelling from Sunil’s phone. Sources added that Sunil had asked the driver to stop the car on a desolate stretch near the Gazipur canal road to relieve himself following which the couple were attacked by Rinku, Meenakshi’s uncle, and Shankar, her brother. Both were arrested on Friday.
Sunil has told cops that Dinesh and Meenakshi had met near Patpargunj on Monday and fled to a hotel near Gurgaon. They had also switched off their phones so that nobody could track them. Dinesh had contacted Sunil from a different number and they decided to go to the lawyer.
The police are probing whether Sunil had knowingly lured the couple into the trap or was convinced by someone that the matter would be resolved. Sunil’s locations and call details are being checked.
Rinku and Shankar have told the police that they had been looking for the couple since Monday and had spotted them boarding the cab near Seemapuri.
The role of Rinku’s brother, missing since the incident, is also being checked. Sources said a team from New Ashok Nagar police station had gone to Rinku’s house in Sahibabad but didn’t find anyone at home.
Meenakshi’s parents are also under scanner as cops suspect that they had morally supported the move by Rinku and Shankar.
Officers said both Rinku and Shankar were calm during interrogation and claimed that they had taken the step to save the family’s honour. Meenakshi was to get married in February and she had apparently fled with some cash that her father had collected for the ceremony, they added.
Meenakshi, who is recuperating in a hospital, has been given police protection after her family member insisted on meeting her. She doesn’t know about Dinesh’s death and may be sent to a women’s shelter home for counselling, said an officer.