The 25-year-old cab driver accused of abducting, raping and murdering a 10-year-old girl in South Delhi resumed work shortly after the crime, picking up another passenger before being arrested hours later.
The Delhi Police said the accused, Basu Kumar Singh, displayed little emotion during interrogation, showed no remorse and repeatedly changed his version of events.
The incident occurred in the early hours of Monday near the Chattarpur Metro station, where the victim was sleeping on a pavement with her parents, who work as daily-wage labourers.
According to police, Basu parked his cab near the family at around 4.15 am and allegedly abducted the girl child while she was asleep. A PCR call reporting the kidnapping was received at Mehrauli police station at 4.58 am, triggering a search operation.
Investigators said Basu, a native of Bihar, who worked for two ride-hailing platforms, had allegedly consumed marijuana before committing the crime.
The police said Basu drove towards Gurugram after the crime, stopping on the way to change his clothes before reaching his rented accommodation at Chakkarpur village, 3 km from Golf Course Road. He allegedly cleaned his vehicle before unexpectedly receiving a booking to Vikaspuri in West Delhi.
Despite the alleged crime, Basu accepted the ride and dropped the passenger. He was arrested at around 11 am in Vikaspuri.
“He behaved normally, showing no indication of what he had done,” a source said.
In one version, he claimed he sexually assaulted the child inside his car near Fatehpur Beri. In another, he said he drove to a forested stretch along the Gurugram-Faridabad road, where he allegedly raped the girl, strangled her with a piece of cloth and struck her chest with a stone before dumping her body in the Aravalli forests.
Investigators are examining whether the victim was drugged before the assault. Forensic Science Laboratory teams have collected biological and material evidence from the accused’s vehicle and the crime scene.
The authorities said no evidence indicating the involvement of any other person had emerged so far.
A case under Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, along with charges of rape, kidnapping and murder under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), has been registered.
The police have also found that Basu has five criminal cases registered against him in Bihar, including two cases related to attempted murder. Investigators said he showed no remorse during questioning and told officers that he did not regret the crime.
Officials said they would contact the online cab aggregator through which Basu was employed to determine whether proper background verification procedures had been followed.
The police said the chargesheet would be filed at the earliest to ensure the accused received maximum punishment. The investigation is continuing on multiple fronts as officials await forensic findings and the post-mortem report.
Meanwhile, emotional scenes unfolded at a crematorium in Chhatarpur on Tuesday as the girl’s family performed her last rites amid heavy police deployment.
