Murder convict thought he was safe till Delhi cops caught up with him, 26 yrs later

The Delhi Police arrested a 61-year-old man, who was on the run for 26 years in a murder case, from west Delhi’s Vishnu Garden on Sunday.

The accused, Onkar Singh, had jumped parole in a murder case of 1980 and was declared proclaimed offender in 1991.

Police said that Singh, along with two associates, had killed a 25-year-old man over a monetary dispute on November 25, 1980, in central Delhi’s Paharganj. The deceased, Parminder Kumar, was a vendor of ready made garments at a shop in the locality. Singh and his associates had stabbed him with knives and then fled from the spot.

During the course of investigation, Singh was arrested along with his associates and put on trial.

Singh was sentenced to life imprisonment and remained in judicial custody till 1989. In the same year, he applied for parole to get married. After getting married, he surrendered to judicial custody. Later, he again applied for parole in 1991 and after being granted parole, he fled away.

Singh was declared a Proclaimed Offender on November 21, 1991.

Police said that after jumping parole, Singh kept on shifting from one city to another and for short periods, lived in cities such as Ludhiana, Bikaner, Haridwar and Ghaziabad before returning to Delhi. Here, he lived in various places before settling down in Vishnu Garden at Mangal Bazar road.

Singh got employment with a private security agency in Tilak Nagar and started working as a private security guard.

“He was currently deployed at Ganga Ram Vatika, Vishnu Garden. As he was sure that no one from police was following him now, he had started living with his wife, son and daughter,” said deputy commissioner of police (south) Ishwar Singh.

Police said that Singh was arrested during an operation of the Vigilance Branch of South District Police, which has been engaged in developing profiles of long running Proclaimed Offenders who have been almost forgotten due to their exceptionally long periods of absconding from law.

During one such operation, the profile of Singh was developed. A source gave information that Singh can be found in Vishnu Garden. This information was further developed.

On Sunday, information was received about Singh’s visit to a particular address in the locality. Immediately, a team was formed, a trap was laid and Singh was apprehended.