YouTuber 'Ex-Muslim' Salim Wastik turns out to be convicted killer arrested in 31-year-old case

    New Delhi, Apr 25 (PTI) YouTuber Salim Wastik, who identifies himself as 'Ex-Muslim' on social media, was arrested by the Delhi Police in connection with a 31 years old case of kidnapping and murder of a businessman's teenage son in the national capital, officials said on Saturday.
    The development has added a strange twist in the YouTuber's saga as Wastik was provided security by the Uttar Pradesh Police in February after he was allegedly stabbed by two men at his office in Loni.
    The two alleged attackers were later killed in an encounter by the Uttar Pradesh Police.
    Salim Wastik, whose original name is Salim Khan alias Salim Ahmed, had managed to evade arrest by assuming a new identity and moving to different locations over the years. He was apprehended from Loni in Uttar Pradesh by a team of crime branch.
    According to police, Khan was convicted in 1997 along with his associate Anil for the kidnapping and murder of the 13-year-old son of a cement businessman in northeast Delhi and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for life by a sessions court in Delhi.
    At the time of the incident, Salim was working as a martial arts instructor at the victim's school.
     The convict had been evading arrest for over two decades after jumping interim bail granted in 2000 during pendency of his appeal, police said.
    "The boy was abducted in January 1995 while on his way to school, and a ransom of Rs 30,000 was demanded for his release," a senior police officer said.
    The officer further said the victim's father had received a phone call from the kidnappers, who instructed him to deliver the ransom amount at a bus stand near the Loni flyover. The caller also warned him against informing the police.
    However, during the investigation, suspicion fell on Salim Khan. A police team questioned him and based on his disclosure, recovered the boy's body from a drain near Mustafabad in Delhi, according to the officer.
    The co-accused Anil was later identified and eventually surrendered before a court in February 1995.
    Following trial proceedings, both accused were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment by a sessions court in Delhi. They later challenged the verdict in the Delhi High Court. During the pendency of the appeal, Salim Khan was granted interim bail in November 2000 but failed to surrender thereafter. His conviction was upheld by the high court in 2011.
    "After jumping bail, Salim Khan managed to evade law enforcement by frequently changing locations across Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. He reportedly worked as an almirah maker in places such as Karnal and Ambala before settling permanently in Loni around 2010," the officer said.
    To avoid arrest, he allegedly declared himself dead in official records and assumed a new identity as Salim Wastik or Salim Ahmed. Under this identity, he ran a shop dealing in women's garments and accessories and also became active on social media platforms, projecting himself as a social activist and YouTuber.
    Police said the breakthrough came after a crime branch team received a tip-off, which they then used to verify his identity using old photographs and fingerprint records. A team, with assistance from local police in Loni, carried out the operation and arrested him.
    They said after completing legal formalities, the accused has been brought to Delhi and lodged in Tihar Jail.
    According to officials, earlier, after the attack on Wastik at his office, an FIR was registered on a complaint lodged by his son Usman against seven named individuals -- two of which were killed in encounter.
    Police had formed multiple teams to trace the attackers and were examining angles including personal enmity and ideological differences.
    He was treated at the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital and later shifted to a private hospital in Saket.
    Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had then directed officials to take strict action in the matter, stating that those disturbing law and order would not be spared.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)