Murder convict held 9 years after jumping parole

A 35-year-old wanted criminal, who had jumped parole nine years ago, while serving a life sentence for two murders in Haryana, was arrested by the Faridabad Police

A 35-year-old wanted criminal, who had jumped parole nine years ago, while serving a life sentence for two murders in Haryana, was arrested by the Faridabad Police from the Gujarat border in the wee hours of Friday, the police said.

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The police said he had opened a tea stall and was living with a woman he had eloped with in 2011. According to the police, a reward of ₹50,000 had also been announced for information leading to his arrest and he was identified as Ramesh, alias Pappan.

KK Rao, Faridabad’s commissioner of police, said that Pappan had been convicted in two murder cases. One of the murders took place in Gurugram and the other in Faridabad. “Ramesh, along with a friend, Rajendra, alias Pateela, had murdered an acquaintance from Uttar Pradesh in Faridabad’s Ballabhgarh area, by smothering him to death, following a tiff on November 11, 2002,” he said.

An FIR had been registered under sections 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in the case at Ballabhgarh police station

In 2003, he, along with Pateela and a common friend, Sanjay Kumar, on the day of the crime, were drinking at Kumar’s place. Three of them entered into an argument and during the altercation, Ramesh took out a countrymade pistol and shot Kumar dead.

“Ramesh and Pateela fled the crime scene before the police arrived. Kumar was rushed to a private hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. A case of murder under sections 302 and 34 of the IPC was registered at the City police station,” Rao said.

He was convicted in both the cases and sentenced to life imprisonment. However, after serving eight years in prison, he had escaped while he was out on 28-day parole in 2011.

Ramesh, while out on parole, met his friend’s wife and eloped with her to Sirohi, at Gujrat border. A case, in this regard, has been registered against him in Palwal’s city police station, said police.

Rao said they have three teams working on tracking wanted criminals and the officers were tipped off last week about his presence in Sirohi. Two teams were sent, who based on a combination of human intelligence and technological surveillance, nabbed him.

“The police were stationed in the area on Abu Road in Sirohi, Rajasthan, for three days and were conducting reconnaissance in plain clothes. It seems he has stopped criminal activities and was running a tea vend along with the woman,” he said.

“During questioning, he said that he had eloped with a widowed woman from Palwal. Initially, he had robbed a few people for initial expenses and then started working as a labourer. After two years, he started a tea vend,” said Rao.

The accused was produced before the court on Friday and was sent to judicial custody, said police.