A man convicted of the 1993 kidnapping and murder of an eight-year-old boy in Delhi has been arrested after evading police for over 26 years. The Delhi Police Crime Branch on Sunday said the accused, Raj Kishore (55), alias Bade Lalla, was apprehended from Ghaziabad’s Khoda Colony on August 2. Kishore, a resident of Kanpur Dehat in Uttar Pradesh, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1996 but never returned to jail after being granted six-week parole in 1999 by the Delhi High Court. He was later declared a proclaimed offender in 2014.
On December 28, 1993, Kishore and an accomplice abducted the son of a garment factory owner from Kalyanpuri in East Delhi. The kidnappers demanded a ransom of Rs 30,000, assuring the child’s safe return. However, after collecting the money, they strangled the boy and dumped his body in a nearby drain. Following an investigation, Kishore was convicted by the Karkardooma Sessions Court in 1996, and lodged in Tihar Jail.
Years spent in hiding across states
After jumping parole in 1999, Kishore moved across states to escape arrest. He lived in Patna for four years, stayed in Jaipur for around 13 years, and spent another three years in Barnala, Punjab. During this time, he worked odd jobs and avoided detection, occasionally visiting his native village in Kanpur Dehat. According to police, he returned permanently to Kanpur during the COVID-19 pandemic and started a tailoring business under a new identity.
Tracked and arrested after two-month operation
The Crime Branch recently intensified efforts to locate long-time parole jumpers, particularly those convicted of heinous crimes. Based on inputs about his presence in Kanpur, police made several unsuccessful attempts to nab him, but local support helped him evade capture.
Eventually, police laid out a strategic plan and managed to lure him to Ghaziabad, where he was arrested after a two-month-long operation involving over 10 personnel. Police said Kishore’s associate in the 1993 murder has already completed his sentence.
(With PTI inputs)
