Murder convict thought he was safe till Delhi cops caught up with him, 26 yrs later

The convict kept shifting from one city to another and for short periods, lived in Ludhiana, Bikaner, Haridwar, Ghaziabad and Modinagar.

Twenty-six years after he jumped parole in a murder case, a 61-year-old man was arrested from west Delhi’s Vishnu Garden where he was working as a private security guard for a residential enclave, the police said.

The accused, Onkar Singh, had jumped parole in a murder case of 1980 and was declared proclaimed offender in 1991. (Picture: Sourced)

Onkar Singh alias Ladda was declared a proclaimed offender by a court here in 1991.

The Vigilance Branch of South District has been involved in studying profiles of proclaimed offenders who have been almost forgotten, said an officer.

During one such operation, the police started studying the profile of Singh. Information about him was accessed and he was arrested from Vishnu Garden on Sunday, said deputy commissioner of police (South) Ishwar Singh.

Singh, along with his associates Devinder Kumar, Amar Pal Singh and Ravinder Kumar, killed one Parminder Kumar (25) on the evening of November 25, 1980.

Two years later, Ravinder and Singh were sentenced to life imprisonment while the other two were acquitted.

Singh had filed appeals in the high court and Supreme Court but they were dismissed and his conviction was upheld.

He remained in judicial custody till 1989 and in the same year, he applied for parole to get married. After getting married, he surrendered to judicial custody.

Later, he again applied for parole in 1991 and after being granted parole, he did not return. Subsequently, on November 21, 1991, he was declared a Proclaimed Offender.

After jumping parole, he kept shifting from one city to another and for short periods, lived in Ludhiana, Bikaner, Haridwar, Ghaziabad and Modinagar.

He returned to Delhi where he stayed in Raghubir Nagar, Bhajanpura and Uttam Nagar and finally, Vishnu Garden in west Delhi, said the DCP.

He got a job with a private security agency in Tilak Nagar and was working as a guard at Ganga Ram Vatika, Vishnu Garden.