Juvenile apprehended in property dealer's murder

New Delhi: A 16-year-old boy was apprehended on Saturday in connection with the killing of a property dealer in West Delhi's Vikaspuri earlier in the week, police said. Amit Kochar, the 35-year-old property dealer, was shot dead on Thursday for allegedly refusing to pay money demanded by the assailants, they said.

The minor apprehended from Rohini Sector 35 is one of the accused involved in the killing, police said, adding that the other accused -- Lokesh, Pradeep, Neeraj and Rahul -- are still absconding, police said. Illegal firearms, large caches of ammunition and a looted SUV were recovered from him, Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rajiv Ranjan said.

According to the police, Kochar was shot at Thursday at around 10.50 pm when he, along with four of his friends, was at his house. Someone rang his doorbell and when he went to respond, Kochar was shot at. His friends heard multiple gunshots and ran outside to find Kochar's body inside his car.

Several raids were conducted, and the juvenile was apprehended from Rohini sector-35 where he was waiting for someone outside his SUV. When asked to surrender, he fired at the police team, but was overpowered, Ranjan said.

"During interrogation, the juvenile disclosed that Kochar was a bookie. They had demanded money from him, but he did not pay. So, they went to his house at about 10.30 pm and rang his doorbell. They asked him to take out his vehicle. While Kochar sat inside the SUV with them to have a talk, Lokesh entered the vehicle and threatened Kochar to pay the money," the officer said.

When Kochar expressed his inability to give into their demands, they shot at him multiple times while he was seated inside his SUV, he said. The juvenile has previous involvements in several cases including that of extortion, attempt to murder and car-jacking, police said.