India: Two held in Dwarka honour killing case

New Delhi, Jun 30 (PTI) Two men were arrested for allegedly killing a man and injuring his wife in a suspected honour killing case at Dwarka a week ago, police said on Wednesday.

The accused were identified as Rohit Dahiya alias Vicky (22) and Ritik (22), both residents of Sonipat in Haryana, they said.

At around 9 pm on June 24, police received information regarding shots fired at Ambarhai village in Dwarka.

Vinay Dahiya (23) and his wife Kiran (19), both residents of Gopalpur village in Sonipat, were shot at by some people inside their rented accommodation in Ambarhai. Vinay was hit by four bullets and succumbed to the injuries, while his wife sustained three bullet injuries and is presently undergoing treatment at Dwarka's Venkateshwar hospital, police said.

It was also revealed that Vinay and Kiran had eloped and got married in August 2020 against the wishes of their families. Police recorded the statement of Kiran, where she alleged that her cousin Vicky and his accomplices had attacked them, a senior police officer said.

Vinay and Kiran belonged to the same village and their families were against the marriage. The couple feared that they might be eliminated by Kiran's relatives and filed a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court for protection in August 2020, the officer said.

During investigation, it was found that there were at least four people involved in the attack and two of the accused were identified as Kiran's brother Aman Dahiya and cousin Rohit.

There was resentment among the woman's family members as they believed that her marriage with Vinay in the same gotra had earned a bad reputation for them in the community, police said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) Santosh Kumar Meena said police arrested the two accused from Rohtak in Haryana.

During interrogation, they disclosed that Aman hatched a conspiracy to eliminate Kiran and Vinay. He made a plan with Rohit, Ritik and another person. Aman carried out reconnaissance of the victims' rented accommodation a day prior to the attack, the DCP said.

On June 24, the four accused arranged weapons and reached Ambarhai village. They found out that the main door of the couple's rented house was bolted from outside but unlocked, Meena said.

Aman, Rohit and Ritik went inside and asked the fourth accused to bolt the door from outside. Around 8:30 pm, when the couple reached there and opened the door, the accused attacked them with firearms, police said.

After the incident, all the accused fled to Rohtak, where Aman took the weapons from Rohit and Ritik and dumped their mobile phones, police said.