Murder accused on run for 28 years caught at Mumbai airport
Dec 31, 2022
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], December 31 : Mumbai Police on Saturday said that they have arrested one of three accused wanted in connection with the alleged killing of a woman and her four children 28 years ago.
The arrested accused has been identified as Kalia alias Rajkumar Amarnath Chauhan, a resident of Chandauli district of Uttar Pradesh. He was arrested at Mumbai airport on Thursday, the police said.
Officials said that a woman Jagarnee Devi Prajapati (27) and her 4 children aged between three months and five years were killed by three men who barged into their house in killed all five.
The incident was reported in Mira road area in 1994.
"The accused had slit throats of all five, and had been absconding since the incident," they said.
According to police, the woman was murdered for resisting physical relations with the accused.
Police had registered a case under IPC sections 302, 201, 452 and 34 against three accused and launched a search operation to nab them.
After 28 years, the first accused in this case has been arrested by the officials of the Mira-Bhayander Vasai Virar (MBVV) Police Commissionerate.
Police had received a tip-off regarding one of the three accused who was working in Qatar, following which the police were keeping a watch on his movements.
"The accused was arrested on December 29, while returning to his village from abroad. The accused was 19 years old when he committed the crime," the police said.
"Search is on to nab the two other accused Anil Saroj and Sunil Saroj," they added.
Due to the unavailability of information regarding the whereabouts of the accused, the police had difficulty catching them.
Officials said that a few days back an officer of Crime Branch Unit 1 received secret information that the accused was a resident of Varanasi in UP, following which the Crime Branch officer started his investigation.
The officer went to Varanasi and with the help of the Special Task Force (STF) of UP Police, he learned that the accused stayed abroad and returned to his village once in 3 years for a few months, they said.
After that, the Police started tracking his movements and he was arrested as soon as he landed at the Mumbai airport on Thursday, they added.
