Soumya Vishwanathan Murder: How a tattoo and stolen wi-fi set helped police find the killers

Soumya Vishwanathan, a TV journalist, was shot dead in south Delhi on her way home from work in 2008. A Delhi court, on Wednesday, convicted the killers of Soumya Vishwanathan after a 15-year legal battle. As part of an organised crime syndicate, Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljeet Malik, and Ajay Kumar were convicted guilty of murder and other offences. But how did the Delhi police track down the murderers? A hand tattoo, a stolen wi-fi set, and CCTV footage were the key elements in solving the case. Years of mystery The murder of journalist Soumya Vishwanthan made headlines and shocked all when it took place. The Delhi Police remained confused for six months, believing it was a robbery investigation, until they discovered the first and most crucial lead when they detained two accused for being involved in the death of another woman. 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. Officials stated on Wednesday that a hand tattoo, a wireless device stolen from a police officer, and CCTV evidence helped Delhi Police crack the case of IT professional Jigisha Ghosh’s murder and eventually led investigators to the murders of TV journalist Soumya Vishwanathan. **Also Read: Five convicted in journalist Soumya Vishwanathan case: A look back at the 2008 murder and its aftermath** Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, and Baljeet Malik, who were arrested in 2009 for the murder of Ghosh, eventually confessed to their involvement in the murder of Vishwanathan in 2008. 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 30 September in 2009 when she was returning home from work. Clues from CCTV footage and tattoo Ghosh was looted and murdered on 18 March, 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. [caption id=“attachment_13270772” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Parents of journalist Soumya Vishwanathan, who was shot dead in 2008, outside Saket Court after the court convicted five people for her murder, in New Delhi. PTI[/caption] 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. Forensic evidence and confessions led to justice 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 30 September, 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. With inputs from PTI