Three decades later, Gujarat Police track down MP man wanted in robbery case

Rajkot/Valsad, Aug 23 (IANS) After evading arrest for 31 years, a 60-year-old man wanted in a 1996 robbery case registered at Vapi Town Police Station was arrested from Khatli village in Gujarat’s Rajkot district by the Valsad District Local Crime Branch (LCB), police said on Sunday.

The accused, identified as Pratap Bhuriya, was wanted in a case at Vapi Town Police Station under Sections 392 and 395 of the Indian Penal Code.

Police said he had been absconding for decades and had been changing his place of residence while working as an agricultural labourer in different districts of the state. The operation was conducted on the instructions of senior officials.

According to police, the case relates to an incident on November 27, 1996, when four unidentified men allegedly entered a complainant’s house at night in Chhiri Kadiya Faliya of Vapi.

The men allegedly threatened the complainant and witnesses with weapons including wooden sticks and knives before fleeing with cash and gold jewellery taken from the house and the complainant’s shop.

During the investigation, seven accused were arrested, while two remained wanted. Police said efforts to trace Pratap were renewed by collecting information about previously arrested accused and using technical analysis and human intelligence.

The LCB subsequently developed a network of informers and learnt that Pratap was working as an agricultural labourer and frequently changing his residence.

A breakthrough came when Assistant Police Constable Pankaj Rupabhai of the Parole-Furlough Squad received information that he was working in the Khatli area of Jamkandorna in Rajkot district.

The LCB team led by Police Sub-Inspector J.B. Dhanesha had been working on the case for around three months. Team members stayed in Khatli, contacted local informers and conducted inquiries using human intelligence while in disguise.

Pratap was eventually traced to the farm of Hareshbhai Vekariya and arrested. Police said Pratap is originally from Bokdiya village in Alirajpur district of Madhya Pradesh and was residing at the farm in Khatli at the time of his arrest.

He was handed over to Vapi Town Police Station for further legal proceedings and investigation.

The arrest comes amid continued police efforts in Gujarat to trace long-pending wanted accused.

–IANS

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