A man who was accused of murdering his mother-in-law in Chennai in 1995 and was absconding has been arrested from Odisha’s Ganjam district 28 years after the incident.
The accused Harihara Pattjoshi, who hails from southern Odisha city of Berhampur, was arrested by Chennai police with the help of Berhampur police while he was staging an escape.
Pattjoshi, then 23, migrated to Chennai in early 1990s and found work at a printing press in an advertisement company in Chennai. He met Indira, then 21, during work related assignment and both fell in love. Their marriage was solemnised on July 14, 1994.
Months later, they could not get along. and separated on account of domestic violence. Indira filed for divorce in local court which enraged Pattjoshi. On August 9, 1995, he allegedly attacked his wife, mother-in-law identified as Rama, 48, and brother-in-law Karthik, 24, at their Nanganallur residence in Chennai. While his mother-in-law succumbed to injuries, both Indira and Karthik sustained grievous injuries.
Chennai police had launched an investigation after registration of a murder case at S8 Adambakkam police station. However, Pattjoshi managed to escape from Chennai and absconded.
Multiple police teams formed
“Multiple police teams have camped and conducted raids at Berhampur and nearby places over the last 28 years but the man could not be arrested. Since 1995, the accused had been hiding in various locations throughout Odisha and also in Surat,” said Saravana Vivek M, Superintendent of Police, Berhampur.
He said: “Initially he was hiding in a friend’s house in Aska where he met another woman and married her in 2001. Later he worked in a masala factory in Berhampur, as a salesman in an insurance company in Kendrapara, and as a manager in chit fund company in Berhampur. He had shifted many houses during the past 28 years.”
The accused was staying with his wife and a daughter from his second marriage.
Chennai police had, however, never given up its chase. In the past, they had come to Berhampur several times and returned empty handed.
A week ago, a four-member police team from Adambakkam police station reached Gosaninuagaon following a tip-off and sought assistance for Berhampur police, which immediately provided a 11-member police team to arrest Pattjoshi.
According to Berhampur police, the teams worked in close coordination and searched all possible locations. “After one week of search, police teams were able to trace the accused hiding in a location under Gosaninuagaon police station area. He was apprehended while he was trying to escape again near the railway station,” said the police.
