2 murder accused, absconding for a year, arrested after tip-off by informer

MUMBAI: The Pelhar police have arrested two accused who were absconding for a year after allegedly kidnapping and murdering a Kandivali resident in Nalasopara. While on the run, the accused, identified as Rohan Vishwanath Singh and Akhilesh Bholenath Singh, were working as labourers outside the state after changing their identities. The police nabbed them after intelligence tip-off that one of the accused had arrived in Mumbai in search of work.

Police said Sudhir Kunjbihari Singh, 27, a resident of Kandivali, was allegedly kidnapped and brutally murdered on the night of January 1, 2024, in Nalasopara East’s Gaonrai Pada area. Police had arrested seven accused in the case. However, the two main accused were absconding.

Assistant police inspector Arjun Pawar from Pelhar police station, who was investigating the case, was searching for the accused for the last one year. Apart from tracing their mobile phones, they had also reached out to informers. He received a tip-off from an informer that one of the accused, Rohan, was seen in Virar, looking for work under a false identity. Police laid a trap in Bhatpara and arrested him. Based on his information, they later arrested Akhilesh Singh from Sonpur village in Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh.

During interrogation, the accused said they worked as labourers in Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh under changed identities. After a year passed, they thought that the case had gone cold, and Rohan came to Virar seeking work, thereby falling into the police dragnet. He gave the whereabouts of Akhilesh to police, who picked him up from Uttar Pradesh.

The two accused were produced in court on Sunday and were remanded in police custody for seven days.