Delhi man sentenced to life arrested after jumping parole 24 years ago

The Delhi Police has arrested a life convict in a murder case who had been absconding for 24 years after jumping parole in 2002, an official said on Wednesday.

The accused, Rakesh Patel alias Pappi, had allegedly changed his identity and was living under the name ‘Nandlal Verma’ in Prayagraj to evade arrest, they said.

According to the police, Rakesh Patel, along with two associates, had stabbed his neighbour to death in north Delhi’s Jahangirpuri area in 1990.

He and Chander Prakash and Anil Kumar were convicted in 1995 for murder and were sentenced to life imprisonment, the police said.

They said Patel was granted parole by the Delhi High Court in 1999 for his marriage. He surrendered before jail authorities after the parole ended.

In 2002, he was again granted parole following the birth of his second child. But this time, he did not turn up after his parole ended on June 24, they said.

A team conducted technical and manual surveillance, analysed his criminal history, parole records, mobile details and known hideouts, and carried out raids at several locations in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh to track him down in Prayagraj.

“Acting on the tip-off, the team apprehended him from Prayagraj. Initially, he tried to mislead the police and claimed that his name was Nandlal Verma,” a police officer said.

Under sustained interrogation, he confessed to his real identity and admitted that he had jumped parole in 2002, police said.

Officials said Patel had been running an auto spare parts shop in Prayagraj and moved there in 2022.

The Tihar Jail authorities confirmed that he had been released on parole on June 3, 2002, and never returned after the expiry of the parole period, police said.