Police are investigating the role of his wife and other family members (representative)
New Delhi:
A 60-year-old ex-navy employee who faked his death for two decades was arrested by Delhi Police for allegedly killing a family member and burning two workers to death, police said on Tuesday. Balesh Kumar was arrested from a house in Najafgarh where he was staying with his family after changing his name to Aman Singh, police said.
Balesh was 40 when he allegedly killed his brother-in-law, Rajesh alias Khushiram, over money in Delhi’s Bawana area in 2004. He is also said to have had an illicit relationship with Rajesh’s wife.
Police arrested Balesh’s brother Sundar Lal, who was also involved in Rajesh’s murder, in 2004, but Balesh managed to elude them.
According to Special Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Yadav, Balesh, who was then in a transport company, fled to Rajasthan in a truck.
There he set his truck on fire and burned two of his workers to death.
“Rajasthan Police during investigation identified one of the persons as Balesh while the other body remained unclaimed. Balesh’s family members also identified one of the bodies as his body,” Yadav said.
The Rajasthan police closed the case under the assumption that the main suspect was dead.
After faking his death, Balesh fled to Punjab and with the help of his relatives, managed to get a fake ID and changed his name to Aman Singh.
“He remained in touch with his wife and managed to transfer his insurance benefits and pension from the Indian Navy to her. Also, the truck involved in the incident was registered in the name of his brother Mahinder Singh, who allowed him to stake the claim. He got an insurance claim for the truck on his wife’s account,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ankit Kumar.
Balesh then moved with his family to Najafgarh in Delhi and lived with them.
“Thanks to an insider tip, we managed to get him out of his house on Monday. During interrogation, he confessed his involvement in the murder of his relative and two laborers from Bihar,” Kumar said.
Delhi Police has informed its counterpart in Jodhpur in Rajasthan about Balesh’s arrest and asked them to reopen the burnt-out truck case.
Delhi Police alleged that Balesh had also stolen antique items from Delhi’s Kota House in 2000 and was booked for theft at Tilak Marg police station.
Police are investigating the role of Balesh’s wife and other family members in his crimes and all will be prosecuted accordingly, Kumar said.
Born in Haryana’s Panipat, Balesh studied till class 8. In 1981, he joined the Indian Navy as a flight attendant and served there until 1996.
“After his retirement, he rented a house in Uttam Nagar in Delhi,” the officer said.
At the time of his arrest, Balesh was working as a real estate dealer in Najafgarh.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
