Palghar murder accused on run for 24 years arrested from UP

Palghar: Police have arrested a man absconding for the last 24 years after being accused in a case of murder in Maharashtra’s Palghar district, officials said on Sunday.

The 50-year-old accused, identified as Mamu alias Chhote alias Babuon Omprakash Shrisahuni Diwakar, was nabbed from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh on April 27, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime) Madan Ballal said, terming it a “textbook” case for the department.

On January 14, 2001, a man identified as Moharram Ali Mohammad Ibrahim Ali (46) was stabbed in the stomach with a sharp weapon in the Virar area and later succumbed to his injuries.

The Virar police subsequently registered a case against Harun Ali Mustaqin Ali Syed and Mamu under IPC Section 302 (murder), Ballal said.

The motive behind the crime was a dispute over unpaid fares. The deceased used to regularly travel in the autorickshaws of the accused from a nearby hardware shop but allegedly did not pay the fare, he added. The matter escalated, leading to the fatal stabbing.

While Syed was initially arrested, Mamu managed to flee and remained untraceable for 24 years.

“The accused disappeared and the case went cold for over two decades. Tracking someone after 24 years is no easy task, but we never gave up,”
– ACP Madan Ballal

Police reopened the investigation earlier this year. They began identifying autorickshaw drivers from that time and cross-checked the information with RTO (Regional Transport Office) records. A technical analysis of phone numbers linked to the accused’s son and nephew helped narrow his location to Paharpur, Kanpur.

A special police team was dispatched to Uttar Pradesh. After several days of surveillance, the accused was finally arrested from near a petrol pump on Hamidpur Road, with the help of the Kanpur police, the official confirmed.

“It was a textbook case of crime detection and inter-state coordination,” ACP Ballal