Mahesh Gupta alias Sunny (24), Ajay Rai (35) and Narsing Kumar Verma (35), along with two juveniles, who had recently escaped from a correction home, were arrested yesterday by the Crime Branch of Delhi Police.
According to police, Gupta was the mastermind behind the crime while Narsing was the jeweller who had provided information about the victim.
Two motorcycles, along with two country-made pistols, four live cartridges, one dagger used in commission of crime as well as the robbed silver ornaments worth Rs 25 lakh have been recovered from them, police said, adding that efforts were on to trace three more juveniles, who were also allegedly involved in the crime.
The daylight murder-cum-robbery took place on November 7 when one of the juveniles managed to enter into the house of the victim, Ajay Gupta, who deals in silver ornaments, on the pretext of delivering a package from a courier company.
As soon as the door was opened by Ajay's son, the five attackers barged inside. They overpowered Gupta's wife Madhubala and kept her two children in captivity, while robbing cash and jewellery.
They then killed the woman in the presence of her minor children as she tried to raise an alarm, police said.
"Working on a reliable tip-off, Mahesh Gupta alias Sunny, who is working as a cable operator in East Ashok Nagar area, was apprehended and was put to sustained interrogation. He disclosed that his five juvenile associates were involved in this robbery. On his instance, the first juvenile was apprehended from his hideout in Kulesara village, Sector 105, Noida," Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Yadav said. .