New Delhi: A 15-year manhunt for a murder convict has ended after he was arrested in central Delhi’s Chelmsford Road.
Police said the accused, Sanjay alias Sonesh Dass, had altered his appearance and was living as a beggar in various areas of the city.
According to police, Sanjay, along with a woman associate, murdered a woman and severely injured her husband in a robbery attempt in Rajender Nagar in 1999. He was arrested but granted parole in 2009. He jumped parole.
On March 17, 1999, Kamla Khanna was murdered, and her husband, Dwarka Nath Khanna, was seriously injured during an armed robbery, engineered by their maid Jayanti and Sanjay.
Both were arrested. Sanjay, from Nadia in West Bengal, was convicted and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for life. He was released on parole for three months on Oct 15, 2009. He was required to surrender in Tihar Jail on Jan 15, 2010. But Sanjay fled.
Deputy commissioner of police (central) M Harsha Vardhan formed a team under SHO (Paharganj) Rajeev Rana to track down Sanjay. “There was a major hurdle. The team only had an old photograph of his. His face has changed significantly since 2009,” DCP Vardhan said.
The team conducted a search at Sanjay’s native home in West Bengal but did not find him there. Police said that during the investigation, they found out that Sanjay was residing somewhere in the area of the New Delhi Railway Station.
“Based on technical analysis, he was nabbed from Chelmsford Road. He was lying on the footpath, covered with a blanket,” police said.
