Vadodara: Man lands in police net 23 years after being booked in a murder as minor
The accused along with two others had allegedly strangled to death the manager of a plant nursery in Fajalpur
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While the case dates back to 2002, the CCL will now be produced before the Juvenile Justice Board as per the procedures of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, Prajapati added.
After 23 years on the run, a 39-year-old man was finally apprehended by the Vadodara city police for his alleged involvement in the 2002 murder of a plant nursery manager. The accused, who was 15 years old at the time of the incident, had managed to evade police and build a new life while on the run. The Chhani police booked him and two others for the murder of the manager at a plant nursery in Fajalpur, where they worked as helpers.
On Thursday, Chhani police station brought the man — now identified as the Child in Conflict with Law (CCL) — to Vadodara from Uttar Pradesh, where he had been working as a labourer. Originally from Malda, the CCL had spent 23 years working as a labourer in different states and even built a family during the time, police said. About eight months ago, the officers of the Chhani police station had first got a trace of the absconding CCL, following which they tracked and confirmed his location.
According to the police, on the night of December 16, 2002, the CCL and two other accused — Mahadev Deven Haldar and Pradeep Rai, then aged 19 and 18, respectively — had strangulated the victim, Royal Roses Nursery manager Raman Baria, when he protested against their attempt to steal the money he owed to the nursery owner.
While Haldar and Ray were acquitted in 2004, the CCL had been declared absconding.
Police Inspector RL Prajapati said that a team from Chhani police station had been on a pursuit to find the accused for close to a year. “The team got the first trace through human intelligence and managed to find his phone number… As the data analysis continued, we realised that he was based in Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh first, then moved to Bengaluru in Karnataka. He stayed briefly in Uttar Pradesh and finally settled in West Bengal’s Malda, where he hails from. When the police team reached Malda, he had left…” Prajapati said.
The police then tracked down the accused to Uttar Pradesh’s Noida, where he was working as a labourer. “We did not have his new phone number… So, we told his wife that we were contractors and there was a money deal pending. She contacted him and we were able to find his location… The team nabbed him and brought him to Vadodara,” Prajapati said.
While the case dates back to 2002, the CCL will now be produced before the Juvenile Justice Board as per the procedures of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, Prajapati added.
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