Cheating accused arrested after 33 years on the run

He was brought to Mumbai after his arrest on Friday and produced before the Mazgaon metropolitan magistrate court, which had declared him absconder

MUMBAI: A 72-year-old man who had been absconding since 1991 after being granted bail in a ₹23-lakh cheating case was arrested on Friday from the Mundhwa neighbourhood in Pune. The accused, identified as Pawan Gopikrishna Modi, had been living in Pune with his son, who works at a software company, for the past few years. He was brought to Mumbai after his arrest on Friday and produced before the Mazgaon metropolitan magistrate court, which had declared him absconder.

Pawan Gopikrishna Modi, the accused

According to the Pydhonie police, Modi, a former resident of Modi House in Santacruz, was involved in a cheating case worth ₹23 lakh in 1990, when he was 38 years old. Although he was arrested in connection with the case, he was granted bail and when the trial began in 1991, he did not attend the proceedings, leading the Mazgaon metropolitan magistrate court to declare him an him absconder.

“The court had also issued several bailable and non-bailable warrants against him, which could not be served as he was on the run despite police teams trying to search for him,” said a police officer from Pydhonie police station. Police searched for him at Modi House, but were told that he had moved out, the officer said.

Although there was no progress in the case for several years, deputy commissioner of police (zone II) Mohit Kumar Garg and his team comprising sub-inspector Anil Wayal and constables Kaliash Bhoyte and Irfan Khan unearthed some fresh information during a recent review.

“When we visited his brother’s house in Santacruz, we came across some new information and his mobile numbers,” said Garg. “Though we found that all the numbers were switched off, we also found another mobile number that he called frequently from them.”

The police team checked on this frequently called number and found it belonged to his son, who worked with a software firm in Mundhwa. They also found his bank account linked with the number and traced the address.

“Our teams zeroed in on the area and then the house where he likely lived and we picked up Modi swiftly. We knew if he received any tip-off, he could flee,” said Wayal.

Modi had been traveling between Kota in Rajasthan and Pune earlier but had lately settled in Mundhwa as his son had got a job, Wayal added. He was produced before the Mazgaon metropolitan magistrate court on Friday and released on a cash bail of ₹30,000.