Police cam spotted teen murder accused at CJP protest. There’s a jail twist

Delhi Police have clarified that any action on those identified by the Facial Recognition Software will be taken only after “field verification”.

A teen kidnapped, then killed

Sisodia was arrested on November 18, 2014, along with his associate Siddharth Sharma, for allegedly kidnapping and murdering 13-year-old Utkarsh. Police said the accused were the victim’s neighbours and knew his family. Their alleged motive, officers said, was to make quick money.

“Where their plan went tragically wrong was when they realised that once released after the ransom was paid, the boy would reveal the kidnappers’ identity to the police,” a senior police officer said.

Police said Sisodia had completed an acting course in Mumbai and later opened a call centre in Noida. Sharma, a mobile phone mechanic, allegedly wanted money to start a business.

According to police, on November 18, Sisodia and Sharma allegedly lured Utkarsh from a bus stop to their flat by telling him that his grandmother had died and his parents were not at home.

Sisodia’s father, a builder, had constructed the three-storey house in Gandhi Nagar’s Rajgarh Colony where Utkarsh’s father, jeweller Mukesh Kumar, and his family lived. Police said that was how Sisodia knew the family. Sisodia lived in a rented flat in Angad Nagar, a few kilometres away.

“The kidnappers made two calls demanding Rs 1 crore in ransom but killed the boy within 24 hours of abducting him. During questioning, Sisodia disclosed that he had recently opened a call centre and required Rs 20 lakh. He then made a plan with Siddharth, who also wanted to make money to start a car accessories business,” the officer said.

Not the only one

The Indian Express investigation has found that the Delhi Police’s software also identified at Jantar Mantar an aide of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who is in jail in connection with a high-profile murder case.

Yogesh, a resident of Badaun in Uttar Pradesh, was arrested in connection with the killing of 34-year-old gym owner Nadir Shah in South Delhi’s Greater Kailash-1 in 2024.

An Afghan national, Shah was shot dead outside his gym in South Delhi’s posh Greater Kailash-1 neighbourhood on the night of September 12. The police arrested him on October 17, 2024, after a brief early-morning encounter on the Mathura highway in a joint operation by the Delhi Police and Uttar Pradesh Police. The police said he sustained a bullet injury to his left leg during the shootout.