Bhopal, Nov 3 (IANS) A stolen mobile phone, surveillance of over 2,500 CCTV cameras across nine states and a four-day undercover operation posing as vegetable vendors and rickshaw-pullers helped Bhopal Police arrest the caretaker accused of murdering retired IAS officer Rakesh Agarwal, Police Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Singh said on Tuesday.

The accused, Varun Valmiki, was arrested from Agra in Uttar Pradesh on Monday evening after a month-long search involving more than a dozen police teams.

“The teams worked for more than a month, scanning over 2,500 CCTV cameras across nine states and questioning more than 100 suspects and relatives of the accused. A reward of Rs 50,000 had also been announced for his arrest,” Singh told IANS.

The breakthrough came when investigators traced the last location of a mobile phone stolen from Agarwal’s residence to Agra.

Police subsequently deployed teams in Gwalior, Agra, Mathura, Vrindavan, Delhi and other locations.

In Agra, police personnel spent four days posing as vegetable vendors and rickshaw-pullers to conduct discreet surveillance, confirm the accused’s identity and arrest him, officials said.

Varun was being brought to Bhopal when he allegedly attempted to escape near Mughalia Chhaap village on Tuesday morning by snatching a police pistol and attacking the personnel escorting him.

He sustained a bullet injury in the leg during the ensuing scuffle and was admitted to Hamidia Hospital. Police said the accused had travelled through Gwalior, Agra, Mathura, Vrindavan and Delhi before moving to Haridwar, Rishikesh, Kullu-Manali and Pathankot.

He later returned to Delhi before being traced to Agra.

“During preliminary interrogation, he told us that he was angry with the deceased over his behaviour towards him. He claimed that repeated reprimands had led to resentment and prompted him to attack the officer,” Singh said.

Notably, Agarwal, a 1982-batch IAS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre, was found murdered at his residence in Suraj Nagar on September 30.

His throat had been slit while his wife, Nishi, was sleeping in another room.

Police said Varun had been hired through Verma Home Healthcare and Housekeeping services just three days before the murder to look after Agarwal, who was suffering from back pain.

After the incident, cash, jewellery and a mobile phone were found missing from the ransacked house.

Following concerns raised by the MP IAS Association over the pace of the investigation, a Special Investigation Team headed by AIG Umesh Tiwari was constituted on October 21.

Police are questioning the accused to establish the sequence of events and recover the stolen valuables and other evidence, Singh added.

–IANS

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