How a tattoo, stolen wireless set led police to Soumya Vishwanathan's killers
New Delhi(PTI): A hand tattoo, a wireless set stolen from a policeman and CCTV footage helped Delhi Police crack the case of killing of IT professional Jigisha Ghosh and eventually led the investigators to the killers of TV journalist Soumya Vishwanathan, officials said on Wednesday.
Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla and Baljeet Malik, who were arrested for murdering Ghosh in 2009, later confessed to their involvement in Vishwanathan's murder in 2008. A Delhi court Wednesday convicted four persons -- Kapoor, Shukla, Malik and Ajay Kumar - of an organised crime syndicate for murder and other offences for the killing of Vishwanathan.
The court also convicted fifth accused Ajay Sethi under section 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) and Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) provisions for conspiring to abet, aid or knowingly facilitate organised crime and for receiving the proceeds of organised crime.
Following the confessional statements of the trio, the Delhi Police arrested Ajay Kumar and Ajay Sethi and booked all five for killing Vishwanathan in the wee hours of September 30 in 2009 when she was returning home from work.
Ghosh was looted and murdered on March 18, 2009.
"The murder case of Jigisha was solved two-three days after her body was recovered from Suraj Kund area in Faridabad. We had got the first lead from a CCTV footage where we found one of the accused was having a tattoo on his hand, while shopping using Jigisha's debit card. Another was carrying a wireless set and wearing a cap," Atul Kumar Verma who was the investigating officer of the case told PTI.
Then the officers worked meticulously on Delhi Police's human intelligence network and soon, the police team reached the residence of Malik in Masoodpur. Kapoor and Shukla were arrested subsequently. Malik had his name inked on his hand while Kapoor used to a carry wireless set which he had snatched from a police officer.
"They revealed that they kidnapped Jigisha from near her house in Vasant Vihar and later killed and dumped her body after looting her. They also did shopping using her debit cards," Verma said.
Verma was leading a team of officials from Vasant Vihar police station.
"We were a bit shocked when Ravi Kapoor himself revealed that they had committed the murder of another girl at Nelson Mandela Marg, which was not very far from Vasant Vihar," said Verma. He also said two other associates - Ajay Kumar and Ajay Sethi - were involved in that murder.
The then Deputy Commissioner of Police (South), HGS Dhaliwal, immediately set up another team of officers and appointed then ACP Bhisham Singh to look into both the murder cases.
Singh told PTI, "Since we had just confession of the accused for Soumya murder case, the major challenge before us was to collect forensic evidence as well."
Detailing the night when Vishwanathan was killed, police said Kapoor drove a Maruti Wagon R car and Shukla sat next to him. Malik and Kumar occupied the rear seat. All of them were drunk, the police said.
"On September 30, a car zoomed past their vehicle. It was a Maruti Zen which Soumya was driving back to her home in Vasant Kunj. She was returning from TV Today's office then located at Videocon Tower in Karol Bagh," another officer, O P Thakur, who was among the investigators, said.
On seeing a woman driver overtaking them and that she was alone, they raised the speed of their vehicle and came closer to her vehicle. First they tried to waylaid her, and when she did not stop her car, Kapoor opened fire at Vishwanathan's vehicle. The bullet hit her in the temple leaving her dead on the spot.
Vishwanathan's car stopped after ramming into a divider.
"All the accused fled from the spot but 20 minutes later returned to see her condition. When they saw police personnel, they ran away," the officer said.
"We are very satisfied today. The conviction has happened basically due to three reasons - weapon of offence which was recovered from the accused, the forensic sketch of the spot and the sequence of incident matched with the confession statement of the accused," Singh said.
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Standoff between Delhi, Shimla police after arrest of 3 Youth Congress activists
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Shimla/New Delhi (PTI): In an ugly face-off, Himachal Pradesh police on Wednesday registered a kidnapping case against Delhi police personnel and "detained" their vehicles at the Shogi border near Shimla when they were heading back to the national capital with three Youth Congress members arrested in connection with the "shirtless protest" at the AI Summit.
"A case has been registered against 15-20 unknown people in plain clothes for forcibly taking three people staying in a resort in Rohru. They also took the CCTV installed in the resort with them and did not give any receipt," a statement issued by the Shimla police said.
The Delhi police had earlier on Wednesday said it had arrested three Youth Congress activists in connection with the February 20 protest at AI Impact Summit from a hotel in Chirgaon area of Rohru subdivision of Himachal's Shimla district.
Saurabh, Siddharth and Arbaz were apprehended by the Special Cell of Delhi Police. They were produced before a local court, which granted transit remand to enable the police to bring them to Delhi for further questioning, an official of the Delhi police said in the national capital.
Himachal Police sources claimed they intercepted three vehicles in Shimla and Solan districts and brought them back to Shimla as the Delhi police had not taken transit remand.
Both the Shimla police and the Delhi police accused each other of hampering the investigation.
The sources in Himachal Pradesh police claimed the team from Delhi carried out the operation in Shimla without informing the local police.
Acting on this, Himachal Pradesh police intercepted three vehicles carrying the accused -- who are reportedly not residents of Himachal Pradesh -- and Delhi Police personnel.
Two vehicles were stopped in Shimla, while the third was intercepted near Dharampur in Solan district. Around 20 people, including police personnel, were detained, the source said.
The Delhi police personnel again tried to leave for the national capital but were intercepted at Shogi border on Wednesday night on the road to Chandigarh and not allowed to leave.
In a video that appeared from the Shogi border in the suburbs of Shimla city, the Delhi police officers were heard saying that they had arrested three people in the morning in connection with an FIR registered on February 20.
VIDEO | Shimla: A jurisdiction dispute has erupted after the Delhi Police detained three Youth Congress workers in connection with an AI Summit protest pic.twitter.com/H7o7eaYOb8
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) February 25, 2026
"We have to produce the accused arrested at 5 am today in the court in 24 hours, and you have stopped us after registering an FIR at 8 pm," an officer of the Delhi police said.
However, the Shimla police officers maintained that a case of abduction has been registered and the Delhi police is hampering the investigation.
They alleged that the Delhi police carried out an illegal operation at Rohru without informing the local police and no papers of arrest were shown.
"I asked you for a legal document in the morning, but neither have you shown any document nor the FIR number and nor have you taken the transit remand," the officer of Shimla police is heard saying.
The "shirtless" protest at Bharat Mandapam on February 20 had triggered a major security response, with police earlier invoking charges including rioting and promoting enmity under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Indian Youth Congress president Uday Bhanu Chib and former national spokesperson Bhudev Sharma were arrested in connection with the case on Tuesday. Both were produced before a Delhi court and remanded to police custody for interrogation.
According to the Delhi police, a total of 11 people have been arrested so far.
Earlier, on Saturday midnight, Delhi Police had raided Himachal Sadan in the national capital amid reports that Youth Congress workers who had participated in the protest were provided accommodation there.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had termed the action "unfortunate and against constitutional procedure".
A Delhi court on Wednesday extended by four days the police custody of five of the arrested in the case.
Arguing that the incident was not spontaneous but executed after prior planning, the Delhi police said that the initial probe revealed structured allocation of roles, concealment tactics and coordinated post-incident movement.
It, however, said that the entire conspiracy, including its hierarchy, funding and inter-state coordination, needed to be unearthed.
Chief Judicial Magistrate Mridul Gupta extended the custodial interrogation of the accused -- Krishna Hari, national secretary of the Youth Congress from Bihar; Kundan Yadav, state general secretary of Bihar; Ajay Kumar Singh, state vice-president of eastern Uttar Pradesh; and Narasimha Yadav, national coordinator of IYC from Telangana.
Meanwhile, the Delhi police on Wednesday denied permission to the Delhi Youth Congress to hold a dharna at Jantar Mantar in national capital on February 26, citing short notice and prevailing law and order concerns.
The Delhi Youth Congress had called the dharna on Thursday against the police action on IYC members who had taken part in the February 20 protest.
