Ex-partner’s tip ends 20-rear run of woman convicted for murder

Police said witnesses had seen Sadhana holding the boy’s hand while crossing GT Road around 5.30 pm.

NEW DELHI: A woman serving a life sentence for kidnapping and murdering a 10-year-old boy went to all lengths to evade arrest after skipping parole two decades ago — a new name, a new town, a new job, and marriage under her assumed identity.

According to police, Sadhana was convicted in a 1990 case registered at Adarsh Nagar police station under sections for the kidnapping and murder of the child.

Yet, in the end, a revelation from her former partner finally led authorities to her doorstep.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Harsh Indora said Sadhana, who later adopted the name Pooja, was arrested in Haridwar on September 27. “She had been absconding since January 18, 2006, after failing to surrender at the end of her extended parole,” the DCP said.

According to police, Sadhana was convicted in a 1990 case registered at Adarsh Nagar police station under sections for the kidnapping and murder of the child. She was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Police said that the child went missing from Azadpur T-point on January 6, 1990. Police said witnesses had seen Sadhana holding the boy’s hand while crossing GT Road around 5.30 pm. Police subsequently arrested her and co-accused Raj Kumar in Jahangir Puri.

Investigators said she subsequently changed her name to Pooja and moved between Delhi, Noida and Haridwar. She worked at a private company in Noida, where she met a carpenter, Keshav. The two later lived in Mukundpur for around five years before moving to Haridwar, where she married him in a temple and used his name as her husband in documents, police said.

“While looking for her after her name was shared with the team as a parole jumper, we reached her former partner Raj Kumar, who shared details of another man she was with. We then reached him, who told us about Keshav. With the help of technical surveillance, we reached Keshav and found that he was living with Pooja, who was originally Sadhna,” the officer said.