Murder convict who became Bollywood actor arrested after 12 years on run

Hemant Nagindas Modi, who shared screen space with leading actors in films and television series, was picked up by the police on Wednesday

Updated on: May 21, 2026, 18:41:56 IST

By Maulik Pathak, Ahmedabad

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A 53-year-old convicted murderer who spent nearly 12 years on the run, building a career as a Bollywood and television actor, has been arrested by the Ahmedabad Crime Branch, officials said on Thursday.

Modi changed his identity and built a career in the entertainment industry, where he was doing supporting roles in films and television series.

Hemant Nagindas Modi, who shared screen space with leading actors in films and television series, was picked up by the police near the Gheekanta metro station in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.

Modi, who was sentenced to life in prison for muder, jumped a 30-day parole granted on July 25, 2014, and had been on the run since then.

During this period, he changed his identity and built a career in the entertainment industry, where he was doing supporting roles in films and television series.

Crime branch officials said Modi had appeared in films such as Thugs of Hindostan and Jayeshbhai Jordaar, which featured actors such as Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan and Ranveer Singh. He also featured in television shows such as Wagle Ki Duniya and Mere Sai, and performed in theatre productions including Yugpurush and Gandhi Viruddh Godse, they said.

Modi was arrested after the crime branch received a tip about his role in the 2005 crime and his visit to Ahmedabad.

Based on this input, teams traced his old contacts and placed them under surveillance. He was eventually tracked and intercepted near Gheekanta Metro Station on May 20, around 1 pm.

Police said Modi initially attempted to conceal his identity but later, allegedly confessed. During questioning, he told investigators that he had worked as a supporting actor.

At the time of his release from prison on parole, Modi was serving a life sentence in Mehsana district jail under sections 302 (murder), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons), 147 and 148 (rioting and rioting with deadly weapons), 149 (unlawful assembly) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC, along with provisions of the Bombay Police Act. He has been sent back to jail to serve the remainder of his sentence.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Maulik Pathak
He is an Ahmedabad-based journalist with more than two decades of experience. His career spans business journalism and general news, with reporting across politics, crime, governance, public policy, business, industry, infrastructure, energy, ports, aviation, the environment, wildlife and social issues. He began his career in feature writing before moving into business journalism, reporting on companies and sectors including energy, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, automobiles and real estate. Over the years, his work expanded to politics, courts, crime, public policy, civic affairs, the environment and wildlife. His reporting has taken him from government offices and courtrooms to factory floors, ports, forests and remote villages, covering stories that range from industrial investments and financial markets to elections, conservation and issues affecting everyday life. While many assignments demand the pace of the daily news cycle, others require sustained reporting over months and years to follow developments beyond the headlines. He started his journalism career with the Asian Age in Ahmedabad in 2002 as a feature writer and sub-editor. Since 2022, he has been working with Hindustan Times. Earlier, he worked with Business Standard, DNA, The Economic Times, Mint and The Times of India. His longest stint was with Mint, where he spent more than eight years reporting across multiple beats. During his career, he has worked in both reporting and editing roles, contributing to page planning, local editions and special editorial projects as newsrooms evolved from print-first operations to digital publishing. Early in his career, he also worked on media and documentary projects with an NGO and as a copywriter at a communications agency before returning to journalism. Away from work, he sometimes makes time for a pair of binoculars, table tennis, cinema and the occasional poem.Read More

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