In a major breakthrough, police arrested a man who had been absconding for 24 years after being charged in a murder case in Maharashtra’s Palghar district. The accused, Mamu alias Chhote alias Babuon Omprakash Shrisahuni Diwakar, aged 50, was apprehended in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, on April 27, officials said on Sunday.
The case dates back to January 14, 2001, when Moharram Ali Mohammad Ibrahim Ali (46) was fatally stabbed in the stomach in the Virar area following a dispute over unpaid autorickshaw fares. The victim frequently used autorickshaws operated by the accused and allegedly failed to pay for repeated rides from a local hardware shop. The dispute escalated into violence, culminating in a fatal attack.
Virar police had registered a murder case under IPC Section 302 against two individuals—Harun Ali Mustaqin Ali Syed, who was arrested shortly after the crime, and Mamu, who managed to evade authorities.
According to Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime) Madan Ballal, the investigation went cold for years until it was revived earlier this year. “Tracking someone after 24 years is no easy task,” Ballal said. “But we never gave up.”
Police teams re-examined the case by cross-referencing old autorickshaw driver records with data from the Regional Transport Office (RTO). A technical analysis of phone numbers linked to Mamu’s son and nephew led officers to Paharpur in Kanpur.
After several days of surveillance near Hamidpur Road, a team—with help from Kanpur police—finally located and arrested the long-missing accused near a petrol pump.
“This is a textbook example of cold-case resolution and inter-state coordination,” Ballal said.