Murder accused on run for 23 years arrested in Thane district

A man who had been on the run for around 23 years after allegedly murdering a woman has been arrested from Maharashtra`s Thane district, the police said on Tuesday, reported the PTI.

The 52-year-old accused who has been identified as Mohammad Tarbez Mohammad Idris Ansari, was on Monday apprehended from Dombivli town, where he was living under a fake identity for two decades, an official said, according to the PTI.

Ansari was booked for allegedly killing his sister-in-law and also kidnapping his nephew, an official said.

According to the police, Ansari had allegedly killed his younger brother`s first wife and kidnapped his five-month-old nephew in Virar town of Palghar district in 2002.

Senior Inspector Aviraj Kurhade of the Mira-Bhayandar Vasai-Virar (MBVV) said that on June 6, 2002, the accused and his brother`s second wife, Afrin Banu, allegedly brutally murdered 30-year-old Shabana Parvin by slitting her throat with a sharp weapon, and they also kidnapped her five-month-old son.

The Virar Police in Palghar district of Maharashtra had registered a case under IPC sections 302 (murder), 363 (kidnapping), and 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), he said, as per the PTI.

The victim was the first wife of Ansari`s younger brother, and Afrin Banu was the latter`s second wife, the official said, reported the PTI.

The police investigations revealed that Ansari was opposed to his younger brother`s marriage to the victim and later forced him to marry Afrin Banu, he said.

Assistant police inspector Datta Sarak said that the police received a tip-off that the accused was hiding in Dombivli, and they raided his rented room on Monday, as per the PTI.

He said that the accused had initially fled to Lucknow, where he lived for three years, before relocating to Dombivli in Thane district, where he spent the last 20 years under a false identity.

According to the police, the second accused, Afrin Banu, surrendered in 2015 but was acquitted due to lack of evidence. The kidnapped child, now a 23-year-old man, currently lives with his father and stepmother in Lucknow, the news agency reported.

(with PTI inputs)