Cab drivers killed, cars sold in Nepal: Killer arrested after 25 years on the run, living as cousin who never existed

On October 1, 2007, Dhirendra and Dilip — following their arrest — were convicted and sentenced to rigorous life imprisonment by a Delhi court. “The gang members would reach a taxi stand and ask the driver to take them to a specific destination. On the way, they would drug him using chloroform, strangle him, and throw the body into a valley or sometimes a drain (depending on the location). The gang would then sell the stolen cars in Nepal,” a senior police officer said.

Dheeraj and Lamba were declared proclaimed offenders after Dhirendra allegedly told police that he knew nothing about the whereabouts of his brother. Since 2003, police had questioned multiple members of the Tomar family, who hail from Bareilly region of Uttar Pradesh. One of them was Raj Singh, who identified himself as Dheeraj and Dhirendra’s cousin.

Raj was the same age as Dheeraj, and said he was the son of Hari Singh, Dheeraj’s paternal uncle. “Raj told the police that Dheeraj and him haven’t met since 2001. He even said that he doesn’t know whether Dheeraj is alive or not,” a police officer said.

Earlier this year, Inspector Rakesh Sharma of the Crime Branch, took over the case along with his team. He then noticed something odd — Raj Singh had no mention in the records of the Tomar family before 2003.

Officers said Raj also used to visit Dhirendra in jail, along with Dhirendra’s mother. But that was till 2011 when Dhirendra was granted a month’s parole on November 3, and never returned.

On May 25, the first breakthrough came for Inspector Sharma’s team when Dhirendra Tomar was arrested again from Bareilly. “He had assumed a new identity as ‘Rajan’ and was living with his wife. He had been working as a driver at a relative’s house in Ekta Nagar in Bareilly,” a police officer said.

In the first week of July, Lamba was arrested by Inspector Sharma’s team — not in an elaborate chase, but moments after stepping out of Patiala House Court, where he had appeared for a hearing in a 2021 narcotics case registered by the Sagarpur police. “But tracing Dheeraj was becoming increasingly difficult,” the officer added.

During questioning, Dhirendra eventually told the police that Raj Singh was indeed, his own brother, Dheeraj. The police then took out the records of Dhirendra and Dheeraj’s father, Harpal Singh Tomar. His identity was verified, and now the police planned on laying the same trap they laid for Dhirendra. “Their mother got the army pension. Dhirendra used to withdraw it, and that’s how we had tracked him,” a police officer said.

Police received a tip-off on November 25 that the accused would visit the bank in a day or two to withdraw pension. The police team, led by Inspector Sharma and ACP Umesh Barthwal, rushed to Sikanderpur Kalan in Muzaffarnagar District of Uttar Pradesh. On Thursday, Dheeraj, now 45, arrived at the bank with his mother, and was arrested.

“He studied up to Class 8. He was in his 20s when the murders were committed. It was also revealed that he, along with his associates, was involved in four cases of murder,” DCP Crime Pankaj Kumar said.

The gang had started off in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, where they targeted the first driver in 1999. They allegedly perpetrated two more murders in Almora and Champawat.

On March 17 2001, the gang targeted two persons and the New Ashok Nagar police station received a PCR call. The caller said two men were lying near a dump yard in Mayur Vihar III. They were shifted to a nearby hospital — one of them, a cab driver, eventually died.