In a remarkable breakthrough, the police in Vadodara have arrested Chandrakant Patel, an absconding accused who had been on the run for 18 years. Patel, who had evaded capture for nearly two decades, was found living under a new identity as a monk in an ashram at Chandod, Gujarat. His arrest follows an extensive investigation into a fraud case dating back to 2006.
Patel, originally the owner of an agency named KK Motors in Vadodara, was involved in a fraudulent scheme where he extorted Rs2 lakh from a young man under the pretense of sending him to Tanzania for work. In a brazen move, Patel had instructed the victim to meet him at the Mumbai airport for the supposed international job opportunity. However, once the victim arrived, Patel switched off his phone and vanished, leaving the young man stranded. The victim then filed a complaint at Vadodara’s Fatehgunj police station.
For years, Patel managed to stay off the radar by leading a nomadic life. According to police sources, Patel went underground after his mother’s property was seized by relatives, which is believed to have triggered his decision to disappear. Adopting the persona of a monk, he travelled across India, avoiding authorities while staying in ashrams and renting rooms in cities like Kolkata.
The breakthrough in the case came when the Vadodara Crime Branch received a tip-off about Patel’s whereabouts in Chandod. Acting on this information, the police kept a close watch on the area, leading to his eventual arrest. Patel was taken into custody at the ashram, where he had been hiding for several years.
During interrogation, Patel admitted to the crime and explained his decision to become a monk as a way to escape the law. His arrest marks the end of an 18-year-long manhunt for the accused, who had been living a life of anonymity in plain sight.