Seelampur murder: Role of ‘lady don’ under lens, security beefed in area

Seelampur murder: Delhi Police is probing the role of a woman, who worked as a bouncer for jailed gangster Hashim Baba’s wife, after the fatal stabbing of a 17-year-old boy in north-east Delhi’s Seelampur area, an official said on Friday.

Kunal was stabbed on Thursday evening in New Seelampur, and police have identified two suspects — Sahil and Rehan — after scanning CCTV camera footage from the area, Joint Commissioner of Police (Eastern Range), Pushpendra Kumar, said.

The family members of the deceased, meanwhile, have claimed that Zikra, a local woman known as ‘lady don’ in the area, was present at the crime scene when Kunal was killed, the officer said.

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Police have detained Zikra for questioning, sources said, though she has not been formally arrested.

“We have identified the accused who will be nabbed soon. Ten teams have been formed to crack the case, and they are looking at all possible angles. We have detained a few people for questioning. The case will be solved soon,” Kumar said.

Zikra worked as a bouncer for jailed gangster Hashim Baba’s wife, Zoya, before her arrest by Delhi Police in a drugs case.

She was reportedly living with Zoya before the latter was jailed. It is believed that Zikra was trying to form her own gang after Zoya’s arrest, sources said.

The deceased’s family members claimed that sometime back, a few members from Kunal’s community allegedly attacked Zikra’s cousin brother, Sahil, prompting police to register an attempt to murder case.

Kunal’s murder could be an act of revenge for that incident, the sources said.

“It is suspected that Kunal was also involved in the stabbing of Sahil. Although Sahil did not die, he, along with Zikra, hatched a plan to take revenge for the attack,” a family source said.

Parveen, the mother of the deceased, told reporters, “Zikra used to roam around in the area with a pistol. An incident happened with her cousin Sahil but my son was not involved in it. Yet they killed him. They brutally stabbed him multiple times.”

Zikra was previously arrested under the Arms Act after posting a video with a pistol on social media. Out on bail, she was living in a rented house near Kunal’s residence.

She reportedly led a gang of 10-12 young men, some of whose names are now surfacing in connection with Kunal’s murder.

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The deceased’s family members also claimed that some residents of the area are being forced to flee out of their fear of Zikra.

Meanwhile, security has been beefed up in the area with the deployment of local police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) amid protests by the local people and some Hindu outfits, including the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP).

Posters with “Hindus are migrating” and “Please help, Yoji ji” written on them surfaced in the area, which police later removed.

The case has also triggered a war of words between the ruling BJP and the opposition AAP, with both sides blaming each other for the “deteriorating” law and order situation in the capital city.