Wanted for 27 years, murder accused found living a double life as ‘Dr Jhatka’

On the night of May 10, 1998, he allegedly attended a wedding at Saiyan Khera village in Haryana’s Sonipat, where an argument broke out with members of the bride’s family.

The argument soon turned violent, and Bairagi and five armed associates opened indiscriminate fire, said police.

“Haryana Police personnel Jai Bhagwan, who was related to the bride’s family, died at the spot, while another person was critically injured,” said DCP Chander Kumar Singh of the Crime Branch.

A murder case was registered at Gannaur police station, and Rajinder was put in jail.

But not for long.

The escape

On February 14, 1999, while being escorted by Uttar Pradesh Police from Ghaziabad Jail to a court in Sonipat, Bairagi escaped at Gannaur railway station despite being handcuffed.

Another FIR was registered against him for escaping lawful custody.

For the next 27 years, investigators from multiple states failed to trace him.

Becoming ‘Dr Jhatka’

The breakthrough came not through the Haryana murder case but during Delhi Police’s review of two nearly three-decade-old attempt to murder cases lodged at Janakpuri police station.

As part of a drive to trace long-absconding proclaimed offenders, the Northern Range-1 unit of the Crime Branch reopened the files relating to Bairagi. He had been declared a proclaimed offender in both cases in 2008.

As investigators dug deeper into his past, they realised the fugitive they were looking for was also wanted in the murder of a Haryana Police officer and in several other criminal cases.

But by then, Bairagi had changed his identity twice.

“After fleeing custody, he first travelled to Kolaba in Maharashtra, where he allegedly worked as a physical education teacher in a Kendriya Vidyalaya for about a year. He later shifted to Mungaoli in Madhya Pradesh’s Ashok Nagar district, adopted the name Rajender Singh Yadav and built an entirely new identity,” said the DCP.

Police said in 2003, he married an auxiliary nurse midwife employed at a government hospital. He obtained an Aadhaar card, PAN card, driving licence, voter ID and domicile certificate under his new identity and became a familiar face in the town.

Through his wife, police said, Bairagi picked up basic medical knowledge and began treating patients. Local residents came to know him as Dr Jhatka who ran a small clinic and a property dealer.

Police said the name Dr Jhatka was coined by local residents due to Bairagi’s looks. “They thought he looked like the character named Dr Jhatka in the animated series Motu Patlu, who was a potbellied man with a round face and a balding head,” an officer said.

The arrest

Crime Branch officers said establishing Bairagi’s identity took months of field intelligence and technical surveillance.

Investigators pieced together his digital footprint, verified his movements and quietly mapped his daily routine before confirming that the man living in Mungaoli was the proclaimed offender they had been searching for.

A team led by Inspector Sanjay Kaushik then travelled to Mungaoli. Rajinder was arrested and produced before a local court, which granted transit remand for his production before a Delhi court.

Police said they are probing whether he remained involved in criminal activity while living under his assumed identity.