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Woman shot dead by stalker, murder caught on camera

Hindustan Times, Gurugram | ByLeena Dhankar
Oct 28, 2020 07:46 AM IST

Images of the two suspects — officials said one of them is politically connected — were caught in CCTV footage of daylight murder; the duo was arrested from Nuh on Tuesday after a massive search operation, according to police.

A 20-year-old college student was shot dead on Monday by her stalker and his friend after a botched abduction attempt outside her college in Haryana’s Ballabhgarh, police said, in a chilling incident that sent shock waves across the state and triggered protests by her classmates.

Images of the two suspects — officials said one of them is politically connected — were caught in CCTV footage of daylight murder; the duo was arrested from Nuh on Tuesday after a massive search operation, according to police.

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On Monday afternoon, Touseef Ahmad, a resident of Kabeer Nagar in Sohna, and his friend, Rehaan (who goes by one name only), a resident of Riwasan in Nuh, arrived in a Hyundai i20 and tried to force Nikita Tomar, a B Com final-year student, into the vehicle as she came out of Aggarwal College after writing an exam, police added.

After their attempt failed, Touseef chased her down and shot her in the head from a close range around 3.48pm, even as people passed by, showed the video. The suspects escaped from the crime scene, leaving Tomar, who was accompanied by a friend, in a pool of blood. She was rushed to a government hospital, where she was declared brought dead.

The woman’s family said that Touseef, who district officials said is the son of a former legislator, had been harassing her for the last two years and asking her to marry him.They added that he had also been persuading her to convert to Islam.

Police identified the suspects, tracked their mobile phones and traced them to Nuh. Both of them are third-year students of physiotherapy at Gurugram University.

OP Singh, Faridabad police commissioner, said the suspects were arrested after a five-hour search operation. “After the murder, they fled to Nuh and did not reveal the incident to their family members. Their mobile phones were traced to different villages and were arrested,” he said.

Haryana chief minister ML Khattar said he asked police to book the suspects under all relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and ensure that they received maximum punishment for the crime.

State home minister Anil Vij said the murder weapon (a country-made pistol) has been recovered. “A special investigation team (SIT) has been formed; it is led by Anil Kumar, the assistant commissioner of police (crime) who would ensure quick investigation to ensure justice to the family of the victim,” he said.

Anil Yadav, Faridabad assistant commissioner of police (crime), said a case under section 302 (murder) and relevant sections of the Arms Act was registered at the Ballabhgarh city police station.

“The brother of the deceased, Naveen Tomar, has told police in a statement that the main accused (Touseef) was known to his sister and had been harassing her; he was forcing her to convert to Islam. The brother lodged a complaint against him a few months ago for harassment and molestation, but a compromise was reached”.

That wasn’t the first complaint though.

“An incident of abduction was reported on August 3, 2018, against the suspect, and the victim was recovered from Nuh…after his family members and relatives apologised, the families had an agreement… Touseef was warned against repeating any such incident,” he added.

According to the police, the woman wrote to officials after she returned from Nuh in 2018, saying she went there with her friends and could not inform her parents before leaving in what she termed a misunderstanding.

Police said the woman and Touseef were in the same school — he was her senior — and that she had been turning down his advances since 2018.

The incident triggered protests and students and local residents blocked the Sohna-Ballabgarh road for several hours on Tuesday.

Officials in the district administration, who did not want to be named, said Touseef is the son of a former Congress legislator from Nuh.

But Nikita Arora, a Haryana Congress spokesperson, denied any links between the suspect and the party.

“The slogans of “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (a central government campaign)” are hollow and the government has failed to ensure the safety and security of women. The accused has no relationship with Congress party,” Arora said.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala, too, criticised the Khattar government over the law and order situation in the state.

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