New Delhi, Aug 17 (PTI) A 57-year-old life convict, who allegedly changed his identity and became a builder in Dehradun after jumping interim bail in a 31-year-old kidnapping-for-ransom case involving a Rs 1 crore demand, has been arrested after 26 years on the run, police said on Monday.
Amit Yadav, a native of Saidpur in Uttar Pradesh, was apprehended on the night of August 13 by a Crime Branch team, they said.
“Yadav was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in the case in 1999 but was granted interim bail by the Delhi High Court in January 2000 for one month,” a police officer said.
He failed to surrender after the bail period and remained absconding for the next 26 years, he said.
A reward of Rs 5,000 was declared for his arrest in 2000 and he was also declared a proclaimed offender.
The case relates to the kidnapping of Rishi Sethi in September 1995. Sethi was sitting in his car near the residence of the then AIIMS director at around 7 pm on September 12, 1995, when three to four people allegedly overpowered and assaulted him before blindfolding and abducting him in his own car.
The victim was subsequently taken to an undisclosed location and illegally confined, the officer said.
During the investigation, the kidnappers demanded a ransom of Rs 1 crore from Sethi’s family. Acting on their directions, Rs 10 lakh was kept in room number 221 of a hotel in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.
On September 16, 1995, Yadav was apprehended by police in Meerut after he collected the ransom money. The entire Rs 10 lakh was recovered from his possession.
“Based on his disclosure and subsequent investigation, police traced a rented house in Ghaziabad, where Sethi was allegedly being held captive. The victim was found chained inside a storeroom and was safely rescued,” the officer said.
Police also recovered several articles allegedly connected with the crime, including a lock, keys and bandages. Yadav was formally arrested in the case on September 17, 1995.
On August 25, 1999, he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment and fined Rs 2.50 lakh.
He challenged the conviction before the Delhi High Court through a criminal appeal. The court granted him interim bail on January 15, 2000, for one month. However, he did not surrender after the expiry of the bail period.
His appeal was subsequently dismissed by the High Court on December 13, 2000, confirming his conviction and sentence.
The police then declared a reward of Rs 5,000 for his arrest and declared him a proclaimed offender. Despite efforts by various agencies over the years, Yadav remained untraced.
The breakthrough came when the Crime Branch launched a dedicated operation to trace fugitives involved in heinous crimes. A team received information about the absconding convict and began developing intelligence on his whereabouts.
“One of the major challenges faced by the team was establishing the identity of the fugitive in a case that was more than three decades old. No photograph of Yadav was available either with the jail authorities or Delhi Police. Even relevant case documents and records could not initially be traced, prompting the team to seek assistance from the Crime Record Office and Finger Print Bureau of the Crime Branch,” the officer said.
After sustained efforts, biometric records of Yadav recorded at the time of his conviction in 1999 were traced. The records proved crucial in establishing the identity of the absconding life convict.
The information gathered by the team revealed that Yadav had been residing at a hideout in Dehradun.
A raiding team was subsequently constituted. Acting on the information, the team conducted a raid in Dehradun on August 13 and apprehended Yadav.
During interrogation, Yadav disclosed that after absconding in 2000, he vacated his rented accommodation in Ghaziabad and severed his known links reflected in Delhi Police records.
He also sold his ancestral property in Saidpur and shifted to Rishikesh, where he repeatedly changed his hideouts and whereabouts to evade arrest.
“In 2001, he moved to Dehradun, where he changed his identity details and established a new life. He subsequently entered the construction business and became a builder in the city,” the officer said.
Following his arrest, Yadav has been lodged in Tihar Jail. PTI BM BM MDO MDO
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