Kota Jul: Police arrested a man, who is accused of looting a petrol pump and had been on the run for over 18 years, from Jhajjar district in Haryana, officials said on Tuesday.
The police team in charge of tracing him had to disguise themselves as warehouse workers and kanwar yatris to ascertain the actual identity of the accused, who was living under a fake name and running an eatery.
Accused Chinni alias Kulvinder Singh (41), a resident Ferozabad in Haryana, had allegedly looted Rs 34,000 from a petrol pump under Sadar Police Station area in Bundi in January 2005 with 4-5 other accomplices. While the police had arrested all the other accused earlier, Singh remained absconding for 18 years.
Around six months back, police started trying to trace Singh. Based on technical information and inputs from informers, they traced his sister and got Singh’s phone number by disguising themselves as warehouse workers, police said.
Later, they traced Singh in Lohari village in Jhajjar district in Haryana, where he was running a roadside eatery. Singh had changed his name and owned a SIM under someone else’s name, police said.
On Sunday, some cops approached him as kanwar yatris and started to talk to him to try to ascertain his identity. Once his identity was verified, he was brought back to Bundi, they said.
He was later arrested in Bundi on Monday and was produced before a court that sent him to judicial custody, Bundi Superintendent of Police Jai Yadav said.
The police team that nabbed Singh was awarded with Rs 24,000, while constables Ranjeet Gatala and Kailashram received appreciation for their significant role in the operation.
The SP said there were 56 proclaimed fugitives in Bundi district, and the police recently launched a campaign to nab absconding accused in various cases in the district going back to the Independence. Accordingly profiles were prepared and the police have arrested 10 of the 56 fugitives so far, the SP said.
