NEW DELHI: A 37-year-old man, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in an abduction and murder case and had absconded after availing of parole in 2019, has been arrested by Delhi Police’s Crime Branch.
The convict, Abhey Diwan, had fled to Nepal. In 2012, he had abducted a businessman’s son for Rs 1 crore ransom. To avoid getting caught, he shot the victim and then stabbed him with a paper-cutter. Later, the body was burnt and dumped by him.
DCP (Crime) Amit Goel said the convict had a reward of Rs 1 lakh on him. “He was planning to flee to Canada by arranging for a visa through agent introduction,” he added.
The crime had taken place in Maurya Enclave on July 18, 2012. A chargesheet was filed against Diwan, his wife and another person. He was convicted by the court and sentenced to life. In November 2019, Diwan approached Delhi High Court and got parole till January 13, 2020. However, when he did not surrender, a non-bailable warrant was issued against him and a reward declared.
Recently, police received a tip-off about Diwan meeting his family members near the Indo-Nepal border. A team led by ACP Ramesh Lamba and inspector Shivraj Singh Bisht raided places in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand to apprehend him.
While keeping a tab on his relatives, police came to know that Diwan used to come to Delhi secretly to meet his family members and stayed in hotels within and outside the city. He was finally arrested from Uttarakhand.
During interrogation, Diwan revealed that he got Rs 7-8 lakh from his family members and friends during his parole period, after which he absconded. He traveled to Pushkar, Ujjain, Shirdi, Mumbai, Goa and eventually crossed over to Nepal via the Sonauli border.
At Kathmandu, he met an associate who had a business of clothes and sugar and started working with him. He couldn’t flee to Canada due to the pandemic and ban on international travel. He also started a business of money transfer through Google Pay, etc. He would call his wife occasionally and meet her every 1-2 months either in Delhi or near the Indo-Nepal border.
