Mastermind of 2009 Dacoity-Cum-Murder Held in UP After 12 Years on the Run

New Delhi: After 12 years on the run, the Delhi Police Crime Branch has arrested the mastermind of a 2009 dacoity-cum-murder case, who had been living under the guise of an occultist to evade capture, a police officer said on Monday.

According to the police, the accused was evading his arrest for more than 12 years and was declared proclaimed offender by the court in 2012.

The accused, Mohammad Jamshed Ali Khan was apprehended in his native district of Badaun in Uttar Pradesh, police said.

The case dates back to January 6, 2009, when the strangulated body of a man, later identified as Santosh Yadav, a driver for a private transport company, was found on NH-24 near Mayur Vihar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (crime branch) Sanjay Kumar Sain said.

Investigations revealed that Jamshed and his accomplices had taken a lift in Yadav's truck, killed him, and looted the container loaded with plastic granules, he said.

While five co-accused were arrested, Jamshed absconded after being granted bail in 2012, Sain said.

Based on a tip-off about Jamshed's hideout in Badaun, a trap was laid in Bhawanipur Kheru, where he was nabbed while meeting with an associate, the officer said.

During interrogation, he confessed about his involvement in the crime, Saini added.

Jamshed had relocated his family and taken up work as a 'tantrik' (occulist) to avoid detention, the DCP said.