MBVV police arrest murder, gangrape accused after 13 years on the run

36-year-old Akram Khan, accused of murder and gangrape, arrested in Mumbra after 13 years on the run in Vasai-Virar region. Confessed to crimes between 2012-2015.

MUMBAI: A 36-year-old man was arrested after being on the run for the past 13 years. He is accused of committing serious crimes, including murder and gangrape, in the Vasai Virar region.

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According to the crime branch officers, the accused, identified as Akram Riyasat Ali Khan and hailing from Uttar Pradesh, was arrested on Thursday in Mumbra, where he had been hiding for the past 13 years. His arrest followed two weeks of surveillance by police near his residence. On Thursday, when Khan ventured out of his house, officers intercepted him. Upon questioning, Khan confessed to the crimes he committed between 2012 and 2015 in the Vasai-Virar region.

Officers said that on November 22, 2012, Khan mistakenly believed a man to be a robber and lynched him to death. After the killing, Khan undressed the victim in an attempt to hinder police identification efforts and disposed of the body.

The Waliv police registered a case of murder against an unidentified person. Officials said that they were trying to identify the victim. In 2015, Khan kidnapped a minor girl and brought her to Nalasopara and gangraped her after which a case was registered at the Nirmal Nagar police station in Bandra East.

The police further said that in 2012, Khan and his associates assaulted a homeowner for renting out his house without obtaining permission from the accused. The three cases were investigated, but the police were unable to trace the accused - Khan who absconded from the Vasai-Virar region.

After Madhukar Pandey, commissioner of MBVV police instructed all the police stations to solve cold cases, the officials began tracing the absconding accused. “We found out that Khan had been staying in Mumbra through informers after which we laid a trap and arrested Khan,” said a crime branch officer. Khan has been handed over to the Waliv police for further investigation.