23-year-old Sarita Vihar double murder case cracked; two fugitives arrested by Delhi Police
New Delhi: Delhi Police Crime Branch has cracked a 23-year-old cold case involving the brutal double murder of a mother and her toddler daughter in Sarita Vihar. Two long-time fugitives, Amalesh Kumar and Sushil Kumar, have been arrested, bringing relief to the victims' families and closing a case that has been pending since 2002.
On January 28, 2002, Anil Kumar discovered the bodies of his wife Anita (22) and daughter Megha (2) inside their Madanpur Khadar residence, with multiple stab wounds to the neck and other parts of the body. The crime was registered under FIR No. 562002 at Sarita Vihar police station.
Amalesh Kumar, a proclaimed offender who evaded arrest for 23 years, was tracked down and arrested in Jamnagar, Gujarat, where he had been working as a factory labourer under a false identity. The other accused, Sushil Kumar, convicted earlier and sentenced to death, later commuted to life imprisonment, jumped parole in 2007. He was arrested near Lalgarh village, close to the Indo-Nepal border, after living on an alias and moving across several states.
The Crime Branch investigation revealed the motive behind the murders was business rivalry in tailoring work, as Anil Kumar was more successful than the accused.
The arrests were made possible by a dedicated investigative team using a combination of ground intelligence, surveillance, and technical analysis. Head Constable Sudhir played a key role in pinpointing the fugitives' locations, supported by a team of Sub-Inspectors and Head Constables under the supervision of Inspector Vivek Malik and ACP Umesh Barthwal.
Both accused have admitted their involvement. Amalesh Kumar, 45, from Shivhar district in Bihar, had been living a low-profile life for over two decades. Sushil Kumar, 43, also from Bihar, had been intermittently residing across Karnataka, Gujarat, and Maharashtra after absconding from parole. The case has now been formally booked against them, and interrogation is ongoing.