A CCTV footage showing former Bihar MLA Raju Singh and his driver roaming with weapons, helped police nail them in connection with a celebratory firing incident during a New Year's Eve party at his farmhouse here in which a woman architect was killed, police said.
The former MLA and his driver Hari Singh, who had fled Delhi after the incident, were arrested Thursday after being detained from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh a day before.
The former MLA's wife Renu Singh and Raminder Singh, who worked for the leader, were arrested for allegedly destroying evidence, police said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Vijay Kumar said CCTVs were installed in the farmhouse.
"Police managed to access the Digital Video Recorder of the CCTV on the day of the incident. No CCTV was found at the spot of incident. But in one of the footages of a duration of 15-20 minutes before the incident, Raju Singh and his driver Hari Singh were seen roaming with weapons," he added.
A pistol and a rifle were seized from the car in which Raju Singh fled from the spot after the incident, Special Commissioner of Police, Law and Order (South), R P Upadhyay said.
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Sources claimed that it was the former MLA who handed over the weapon to his driver and kept on prodding him to fire when the countdown for the new year began.
According to the victim Archana Gupta's husband, Vikas Gupta, on the night of December 31, his wife and daughter had gone to attend a new year party at Rose Farm in Ambedkar Colony in Mandi Village.
The farmhouse belong to his friend Sanjiv Singh (ex-MLA's brother) who was known to the victim's family for more than 25 years. At around midnight, there were celebrations and dancing on the DJ floor.
Archana, her daughter and husband shared a family hug and wished each other. Archana then returned to the dance floor to continue dancing.
In his complaint, Vikas said that at that time, he saw that a man fired twice in the air and Raju Singh, brother of Sanjiv Singh, also fired four-five times in the air with his own weapon.
About five minutes later, firing was again done by Raju Singh. Vikas noticed that she had fallen down and he rushed towards her, he told police. She was unconscious and had blood on her face.
With the help of other guests, he picked her up and rushed her to hospital in a Innova car belonging to Sanjiv Singh, police said.
Raju Singh was booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Arms Act, police said, adding that he has five other cases registered against him.
The accused have claimed that the pistols were licensed. However, police are yet to verify it and will question the accused how they had procured such a large number of rounds.
"Since it was a party, alcohol was served. However, it is yet to be ascertained if the accused was drunk at the time of incident," police added.