Cab Driver Arrested for Murder of 10-Year-Old Girl on Gurugram-Faridabad Road
A 29-year-old cab driver allegedly scouted a footpath near CDR Chowk in south Delhi for nearly 45 minutes before abducting, raping, and murdering a 10-year-old girl, whose body was later abandoned along the Gurugram-Faridabad Road, police investigators revealed on Thursday.
The incident occurred early on Monday morning when the victim was sleeping on the footpath near CDR Chowk with her parents and three younger siblings.
According to police, the accused, identified as 29-year-old Bashu Kumar Singh, first drove past the family around 3:30 AM to 3:45 AM. Investigators said Singh spotted the girl but chose to wait because she was sleeping close to her mother. He drove towards Chhattarpur Road before returning a short while later.
When Singh returned, he waited for the girl to move slightly away from her mother. He then allegedly lifted the child and dragged her into his car at around 4:15 AM. The victim screamed for help, prompting her father to briefly chase the fleeing vehicle on foot, though he was unable to catch it.
Investigators believe Singh drove to Mandi village, where he sexually assaulted the child inside the vehicle. He then drove to the Gurugram-Faridabad Road, where he allegedly killed the girl and hid her body in a forested area.
The police arrested Singh within six hours of the crime in Vikaspuri, west Delhi, where he was dropping off a passenger. Investigators noted that Singh had switched his phone back on to accept passenger rides shortly after the crime in an attempt to avoid suspicion. He had also tried to wash the inside and outside of the vehicle, though forensic teams successfully recovered hair and biological samples.
The victim's body was recovered nearly 11 to 12 hours after the abduction after Singh led police to the location.
On Tuesday, police took Singh back to Mandi village to reconstruct the crime scene. During the exercise, Singh allegedly attempted to snatch an officer's gun, leading to a brief shootout in which police shot him in the leg.
Further investigations revealed that Singh had been booked in five criminal cases in Bihar's Khagaria district between 2015 and 2022, including charges of molestation, assault, attempted murder, and rioting. Delhi Police have written to three cab aggregators demanding explanations on how Singh was allowed to register as a driver-partner without proper background checks.
