21 years on the run, false identity: Maharashtra murder accused arrested in UP
Maharashtra Police have arrested a 41-year-old man who had been absconding for 21 years after allegedly killing his friend in Palghar district and then living
Maharashtra Police have arrested a 41-year-old man who had been absconding for 21 years after allegedly killing his friend in Palghar district and then living in disguise in Uttar Pradesh, officials said on Friday. The accused, Rajesh Suresh Sonkar, was held by the Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar police from a village in Prayagraj district on Thursday. Police said the case, which had remained unsolved for years, saw a breakthrough after a fresh probe into long-pending murder cases. Investigators tracked Sonkar after receiving a tip-off and using cyber forensics and technical analysis to trace his location, they said.
Read Full Story Assistant Commissioner of Police, Crime, Madan Ballal said Sonkar had hidden his real identity and was working as an e-rickshaw driver in Uttar Pradesh. The case dates back to December 27, 2005, when the body of 30-year-old Dilip Tukaram Chavan was found dumped near a creek in Bhatibunder village in Palghar. Chavan had died of severe head injuries, following which a case under IPC sections 302 and 201 was registered at Virar police station. However, the investigation did not move forward at the time due to a lack of leads. The breakthrough came after the Maharashtra Police ordered a parallel investigation into unsolved murder cases across the Mira-Bhayandar, Vasai-Virar commissionerate.
The Crime Branch then revisited the case files, re-examined the original crime scene material and re-interviewed witnesses from 2005. Police said the turning point came when an informant indicated that the prime suspect was hiding in his native village in Uttar Pradesh. During interrogation, Sonkar confessed to the crime, police said. He told investigators that he and Chavan were friends and had worked together as sanitation staff at a hotel. According to police, Sonkar said his wife had been raped by an acquaintance of Chavan and that he suspected Chavan had actively helped the accused in that crime.
In anger, he allegedly assaulted Chavan to death and dumped the body to destroy evidence. After the murder, Sonkar immediately fled Maharashtra, police said. He allegedly spent the first six years hiding in Lucknow before moving to Prayagraj, where he concealed his identity for the next 15 years. With his arrest, police said they have solved the 2005 murder case that had remained pending for over two decades. Ends
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