Manu on the run hitched rides, travelled by bus, autorickshaw

That was the place where it was decided that he and Vikas Yadav would go the Yadav residence at Balwant Rai Mehta Lane. In fact, they used the same black Tata Safari to go there. From there, Manu decided to go his own way. Before leaving, it was decided that Yadav would abandon the car at Noida.

From there began Sharma’s lonely journey, going from one town to another, using every possible means of public transport. While the police was freezing his passport and claimed to have sent an identification kit to relevant people, he was cleverly using autorickshaws, buses and even hitching rides.

On Friday morning, he took an autorickshaw to go to Ring Road near Azadpur from where shared Tata Sumos take passengers to Ambala. From Ambala, he went to Panchkula, sometimes taking help from relatives and sometimes checking into local guest houses.

From Panchkula, he went to Muktsar and then caught the Bilaspur-Manali highway, where he spent a day at a famous gurudwara. What spurred him on from one town to another was the daily news. He maintains that he did not establish any contact with his family. He is reported to have said that he was scared that his phones at Chandigarh might be tapped.

What worked to his advantage was that his photograph was not splashed anywhere. He mingled freely with the crowds, though he was careful not to touch Chandigarh, where he was a known face.

He buckled when he read reports about his father being admitted to the PGI Chandigarh. He called up his relative Vinod Dada at Jalandhar and expressed a desire to see his father. It was he who decided to turn him over to the police camping in Chandigarh.

According to the police team camping, it was the pressure on his family and relatives which had prompted this surrender. They had raided the family business establishment 30 times and used to go the Piccadily cinema after every few hours. The movie showing there was stopped and people searched, apart from the rooms in the complex.

After all this, it was a much mellowed-down Sharma that boarded the car that was to bring him to Delhi. All that he asked in the beginning was how long all this would take. The rest of the journey, he patiently answered questions from the police personnel accompanying him.

He has reportedly informed the police about the whereabouts of the weapon, the .22 bore pistol, which he had purchased from Ambala and had a licence for. He has said that he has not been in touch with Yadav, who is still at large after they parted ways in Delhi.