Man arrested after 12 years hiding under false name in Chandigarh

A man who had been living under a false name in Chandigarh for 12 years was arrested by police from Sambhal district in Uttar Pradesh, officers said. The accused, who carried a reward of ten thousand rupees on his head, was detained after a joint operation by Bahjoyi police station personnel and the Special Operations Group team.

According to police, the accused had been concealing his identity while residing in Chandigarh. Following the arrest, police have begun proceedings to present the accused before the court.

Police said a case numbered 118/2014 was registered at Bahjoyi police station on March 5, 2014 under sections 363, 366 and 370 of the Indian Penal Code. The accused wanted in this case was Banwari, son of Sher Singh, a resident of village Maukather in the Bahjoyi police station area. After he remained at large for an extended period, police announced a reward of ten thousand rupees on him on September 25, 2024.

The police team received information that the accused was coming to his village area. Following this, Bahjoyi police station personnel, with assistance from the SOG and surveillance team, laid a cordon. On Wednesday at approximately 9:48 in the morning, Banwari was apprehended near a temple on the route from Maukather to Machhkheda.

Police claim that the accused had been living in Chandigarh for the past 12 years after changing his name to Baljeet. He had been continuously changing his location to evade police. The arrest of the long-absconding wanted accused carrying a reward is being regarded as an important action by the police team.

The team that carried out the arrest included Inspector in-charge Rajeev Kumar Malik, Sub-Inspector Pramod Kumar, SOG in-charge Mohit Chaudhary, Head Constable Ruchin Kumar, Head Constable Arun Siwal and constables Manish Yadav, Himanshu Tripathi and Virendra Kumar from the surveillance branch.