A gemstone dealer, three associates and a juvenile, allegedly involved in the murder of a financier last month in South Delhi’s Malviya Nagar area, have been arrested.

Romil Banya, DCP, identified the accused as Dinesh, 22, Manjot Singh, 48, Rajender Singh, 30, and Rohit Thakur, 30. “Manjot Singh, a businessman of gemstones in Malviya Nagar conspired to kill Sanjay Chawla who financed him Rs 52 lakhs over monthly interest.

Later, when Singh failed to pay his debts Chawla started asking him for the money which left him embarrassed and insulted,” added Banya.

Manoj roped in his friend, Rajender, and Rohit in the murder plot for Rs 5 lakh who further hired two budding criminals, Dinesh and a juvenile, both residents of Ambedkar Nagar, for Rs 35,000 each. They did a recce of Sanjay’s office and residence.

Banya said, “On February 8, Dinesh and the juvenile followed Sanjay from office and at the accurate time Dinesh stabbed Sanjay while the juvenile kept watching. They thought Sanjay was dead and fled the spot. Both of them were paid as per the contract and told to stay in hiding for a while.”

Police received a report about a man being stabbed at Block L in Malviya Nagar on the same day. He was taken to the Madan Mohan Malviya Hospital and thereafter referred to Max Hospital, Saket.

DCP said the doctors claimed that the victim was unfit for a statement due to which his statement could not be recorded that day. Later, he succumbed to injuries. A case of murder was registered at Malviya Nagar police station and investigation was taken up.

A team led by Virender Dalal, Station House Officer of Malviya Nagar, began the investigation. During enquiry, it was revealed that Sanjay Chauhan used to provide loans against monthly interest.

A scrutiny of the financial records /documents recovered from the office of the deceased, technical surveillance, local inquiries of all the suspected persons relating to financial deals with the deceased was done.

Suspicion arose about Manjot Singh who used to take loans from Sanjay. Some CCTV footage was also scrutinised in which the accused were seen roaming around the scene of the crime.

After a specific tip-off Dinesh and the juvenile was apprehended from Chirag Delhi area. During their interrogation, they disclosed that they were hired by Rajender and received Rs 35,000.

Rajender was arrested and police also recovered the knife used to stab the deceased. On interrogation, Rajender told police that Manjot Singh was the prime conspirator behind the plan. Singh too was arrested following Rajender’s revelation.