<![CDATA[New Delhi: The Delhi Police arrested a man who has a previous criminal record for the murder of a 21year old youth on the road when they got into an argument which resulted in the murder in east Delhi’s Acharya Niketan on December 9, the police said on Friday. The police identified the accused as Sidhant Verma, 35, a resident of Ghaziabad who was arrested from Dasna toll plaza on Thursday night. On his arrest the police recovered from him a pistol and the car that was used in committing the crime. DCP (East) Mr. Pankaj Singh said that the accused is a fearful criminal who has a track record of over 30 previous criminal involvements. He had previously been booked under the Gangster Act by the Ghaziabad police. He stays with his family in an apartment in Ghaziabad and deals in property business. Mr. Singh (DCP) added saying that the accused, Sidhant and his family used to stay in Sabzi Mandi of north Delhi where his father owns a jewellery shop. During the period of his involvement in the business as he was helping his father, he started keeping company with snatchers and started buying snatched gold jewellery. In due course he got involved in snatching cases and was arrested by the police several times. The police said that during the investigation process the CCTV footage of the suspect was circulated and a criminal who was lodged in a city’s prison identified him. The police then found the details of the suspect from the police case history and his house was raided but he was not found there. The police then with the help of technical surveillance located the accused near Dasna in Ghaziabad. On Thursday night the police nabbed him along with the car and pistol from Dasna toll plaza. During interrogation, the accused confessed that he had been involved in 33 criminal cases. On December 9, he met his old accomplice Pramod and the two decided to go to a convenience store in east Delhi for a midnight snack. Just as they reached the store, outside they got into an argument with the victim, Yogesh Singh Dedha who is a resident of Chilla village and Sidhant had parked his car right next to the victim’s motorcycle. As the argument gained momentum the victim, Yogesh picked up an iron rod and smashed the side glass of Sidhant’s car. The accused, Sidhant angered by the victim’s action took out his pistol and fired multiple rounds at the victim, Yogesh. Sidhant then got in the car with Pramod and fled the spot. After hearing the news of Yogesh’s death, the two accused decided to flee Delhi-NCR for some time till the matter cooled down. As the police conducted the investigation the accused, Sidhant told the police that he warned Yogesh and his friends twice to stay away from him, but they wontedly picked up a fight with him for no reason. The accused told the victim and his friends before he fired him that he has more number of FIRs against him that the victim’s age and it is better for him to mind his own work and stay away from him. ]]>
