Wanted accused arrested after 25 years on the run

Assistant police inspector Mahesh Lamkhede, narrating the accused’s story, said that in 1998, he had ordered 40 cameras from Photo Clip India Limited in Dadar, which he paid for with a cheque of ₹50,000 from the Bank of Saurashtra’s Malad branch

Mumbai: A team from the Rafi Ahmed Kidwai (RAK) Marg police station on Thursday arrested a 62-year-old who had jumped bail in a cheating case and was on the run for the past 25 years. The accused, Ahmed Ali Patel, who had settled down in Amod taluka in Gujarat’s Bharuch district, never dreamed that the Mumbai police would trace him after so many years, especially since they did not have his photograph or address.

Wanted accused arrested after 25 years on the run

Assistant police inspector Mahesh Lamkhede, narrating the accused’s story, said that in 1998, he had ordered 40 cameras from Photo Clip India Limited in Dadar, which he paid for with a cheque of ₹50,000 from the Bank of Saurashtra’s Malad branch. “However, the complainant had some doubts and made inquiries,” he said. “He then discovered that the Bank of Saurashtra had no branch in Malad, and registered a police complaint.”

Patel was arrested in the cheating and forgery case, and it was found that he had committed the offence on behalf of one Janak Dholakia, who was also arrested. After he was granted bail, he stopped coming to the court. The Dadar metropolitan magistrate issued several warrants against him, and eventually declared him a ‘proclaimed offender’ or absconder.

“Several police teams went to arrest him but they could not find him as he had changed his address,” said DCP Dr Pravin Munde of Zone IV. “His photograph too was not available in police records. Earlier, a police team had got his cell number from co-accused Dholakia and, posing as bank officials, asked him to come to the bank to update his KYC. But he suspected that something was amiss and fled from the spot.”

This time around, a team of API Lamkhede and constables Narayan Kadam, Suresh Kadlag and Ravindra Sable took the accused’s cell number from Dholakia. “We saw that he did not have WhatsApp, and was clearly using a very basic phone to evade cops,” said Lamkhede. “However, we found that his Paytm account was linked to the phone, and one transaction had been carried out. We searched for the bank account linked to the Paytm app and through the bank found Patel’s photo and his Amod address.”

By the time the police reached Amod, Patel had got wind of their arrival and fled. “We lay in wait near his house for two days with the help of the Amod police,” said Lamkhede. “Finally, when he returned, we nabbed him. He had never imagined that the police would come back to look for him after such a long time. He was living a retired life and doing farming.”

Patel will be produced before the Dadar court on Friday.