New Delhi, July 18 (IANS) The Delhi Police Crime Branch has arrested two proclaimed offenders who had been absconding since 2018 in connection with a murder, dowry death and cruelty case registered at Swaroop Nagar Police Station.
The accused, identified as Kanchan and her son Jatin alias Jitin, were wanted in the death of the family’s daughter-in-law and had evaded arrest for more than eight years.
In a statement, the Crime Branch described the arrests as a “major breakthrough” and said the mother-son duo had remained absconding since the registration of the case.
According to the police, “persistent efforts over several years culminated in the successful apprehension of both accused,” calling it a “significant achievement in securing the presence of accused persons in a grave and sensitive criminal case involving the death of a married woman.”
Police also alleged that “to evade arrest, the mother-in-law allegedly spread false information regarding her own death to misguide the investigating agency.”
The accused were wanted in FIR No. 43/2018, registered on January 31, 2018, at Swaroop Nagar Police Station under Sections 302, 304B, 498A and 34 of the Indian Penal Code, relating to murder, dowry death, cruelty and common intention. Both had been declared proclaimed offenders by a competent court after absconding during the investigation.
According to the Crime Branch, the case pertains to the unnatural death of a married woman in January 2018. The FIR was initially registered under Sections 498A and 304B of the IPC. During the investigation, the deceased woman’s family alleged that she had not died by suicide, but had been strangled to death by her matrimonial family.
While the woman’s husband and father-in-law were arrested during the investigation, her mother-in-law Kanchan and brother-in-law Jatin alias Jitin fled after their anticipatory bail applications were rejected. Despite repeated raids and sustained efforts by the investigating agency over the years, the two continued changing their hideouts and remained untraceable.
The Crime Branch said a dedicated team of WR-II had been continuously developing Intelligence regarding the whereabouts of the proclaimed offenders. Acting on specific Intelligence received on July 15 and corroborated through technical surveillance and local inputs, simultaneous operations were carried out in Yamuna Nagar in Haryana and the Okhla area of Delhi.
Kanchan was apprehended from her hideout in Yamuna Nagar, while Jatin alias Jitin was intercepted in Delhi’s Okhla area. After verification of their identities and completion of legal formalities, both were arrested in the case.
During interrogation, the accused allegedly disclosed that after their anticipatory bail pleas were dismissed, they kept changing locations and avoided visiting their native residence to evade arrest and escape the legal process.
The Crime Branch said the operation “reaffirms the commitment of Delhi Police to trace and apprehend absconding offenders, irrespective of the time elapsed.” The arrests were made by a team of WR-II, Crime Branch, under the supervision of senior officers following sustained surveillance and intelligence-based operations.
–IANS
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