Evading arrest for 30 years, man held from Maharashtra

The police said he was also arrested by the Shahada police in Maharashtra in arms cases registered against him in 1989, 2012 and 2017.

Following a tip-off that Singh was to visit Shahada court in Maharashtra’s Nandurbar district on Thursday, he was picked up and brought to Surat. He was then handed over to the Vadodara Police in connection to a case registered at the Panigate police station.

Padhiyar said, “The Panigate police had arrested Khandulal Patel and Hansraj Sojitra in 1993, under arms Act. During interrogation, they had named Mohan Singh, a resident of Barwani district in Madhya Pradesh. Vadodara Police team visited Barwani but could not find him.”

“Similarly, a person named Vijay Makwana was arrested in Rajkot in 2018 under arms Act. He, too, had named Singh during questioning. The Rajkot Police also could not find Singh at Barwani,” he added.

Padhiyar said Singh had been manufacturing and selling countrymade firearms for the last 40 years. “He frequently changes his location to evade his arrest. For the last few years, he was staying at Shahada,” he added.

Inspector K D Rathod said that the absconder squad of the Surat Crime Branch has arrested over 101 wanted criminals so far this year.