Delhi Riots: Woman Accused in Constable Ratan Lal's Murder Arrested from Noida

She had been living under disguise and kept changing her hideouts for over two years, said the police.

One of the first incidents in NE Delhi riots to shock the capital was the death of head constable Ratan Lal on 24 February. 

(Photo: PTI/Altered by The Quint)

Two and a half years since the northeast Delhi riots, a 27-year-old woman was arrested from Noida in connection with the murder of Delhi police head constable Ratan Lal. She had been living in disguise and kept changing her hideouts for over two years, said the police.  

The arrest comes only days after a 34-year-old man, Munjtajim, was arrested in connection with Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer, Ankit Sharma’s death. 

DCP Sanjay Kumar Sain, northeast district said, “For a long time, the operations wing of northeast district had been working hard to trace the whereabouts of the absconding accused in HC Ratan Lal murder case but was not getting a specific lead.”

After technical surveillance, the woman was traced and arrested by the police.

The DCP said in a statement, “During technical surveillance, it surfaced that the mobile number of the accused was not in use but on thorough analysing of the call detail records (CDR), a mobile number of a close relative was found to be frequently calling a customer care number of a particular company situated in Noida which created the suspicion.” 

Based on the inputs, a trap was laid by the police team on 13 October at the said location in Noida Sector 63 and she was apprehended by the police

The DCP said that during the interrogation, the woman confessed her crime and disclosed that she was actively involved in the Citizenship Amendment Act-National Registrar of Citizens (CAA-NRC) protests. Consequently, she was named as an accused in the murder case of constable Ratan Lal.  

The DCP added, “Since then, she fled her house and had been residing at different rented accommodations to dodge the police teams. During this period, she got married to a person who arranged a job for her as a customer care executive in the Noida-based company. She further revealed that she never used her mobile phone and used only internet calling through apps. She had been using the customer care number to connect with her relatives and family members.” 

She was arrested under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Prevention of Damage to Public Property (PDPP) Act and the Arms Act. 

According to a report by The Indian Express, sources said that the woman was accused of allegedly being present in the “active mob” and “provoking” people to kill Lal and attack then DCP Amit Sharma and then ACP Anuj Kumar.

On 2 October, a 33-year-old man, Mohd Wasim, was arrested from Aligarh in connection with the same case.  

The death of the 42-year-old head constable, was one of the first incidents in the riots that shook the capital. He had died of bullet injuries in Gokalpuri on 24 February.