Murder convict changed name, built a family, opened a shop — Delhi cops caught him after 24 years

A crucial lead

Police said the breakthrough came from an ancestral land sale in Patel’s village, Dubra Jagdishpur in Prayagraj.

A police team camped twice for several days in his village, keeping relatives and other residents under surveillance.

“During our first visit, we didn’t find much. On our second visit, a villager told us that Patel’s brothers had sold an ancestral plot two years ago, dividing it into three parts. We started investigating this lead and discovered that the money had gone to one Nand Lal Verma. We suspected he might actually be Patel, but we couldn’t find his house,” a police officer said.

The police team was then sent for a third time to track down the convict.

“Our team camped in the village for around 15 days to trace Nand Lal’s address. Last week, they finally got a lead on the whereabouts of his house,” the officer added.

The police team waited for him to be alone at his house. “We didn’t want him or his family to become suspicious of us. That’s why we waited for the right time to nab him,” the officer further added.

Murder conviction, parole jump

According to another officer, Patel’s father was employed in a government job and moved to Delhi in the late 1980s. The family initially lived in a government flat in Sarojini Nagar.

However, his father had to quit the job and the family faced financial difficulties. They later moved from Sarojini Nagar to a rented accommodation in Jahangirpuri.

In 1995, police said Patel was convicted in 1995 in a brutal murder case registered at Jahangirpuri police station. According to police, Patel and his associates — Chander Prakash and Anil Kumar — stabbed a neighbour to death in 1990 following a minor dispute that began over a slap. All three were later sentenced to life imprisonment by a Delhi court.

He was first granted parole in 1999 for his marriage and surrendered before jail authorities on time. However, after being granted parole again in June 2002 on the orders of the Delhi High Court following the birth of his second child, he disappeared.

“He never returned to jail after the parole period ended on June 24, 2002. Since then, he had been constantly changing locations and concealing his identity to evade arrest,” the officer said.

The case was eventually pulled out of cold storage.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Pankaj Kumar said four months ago, a team comprising Sub-Inspectors Manish, Hitesh, Bhagyashree; Assistant Sub-Inspector Narender; Head Constables Ravinder, Neeraj, Shabeer, Mandeep, Dinesh Kumar, Akash Nain; and Constable Ankush was formed under Inspector Ajay Sharma, with guidance from ACP Ashok Sharma, to gather intelligence about the fugitive.

Verification from Tihar Jail authorities later confirmed that Patel had indeed failed to surrender after being released on parole nearly two-and-a-half decades ago.

When the police team confronted him, Patel allegedly denied being the fugitive convict and insisted that he was Nand Lal Verma. His family members even produced documents carrying the fake identity, briefly complicating the verification process.

However, police said he eventually admitted he was Patel.

During questioning, police said Patel shifted between multiple locations in Mumbai, Bihar and later Delhi during his years on the run. Police said that while hiding in Mumbai and Bihar, he changed his name from Patel to Nand Lal Verma.

The officer said after the death of his father in 2011, he decided to settle in his village. He had told fellow residents that he had served time and was released.

Police said one of his brothers works in a government job and lives in Delhi, while the other is a businessman living in Prayagraj.