Two proclaimed offenders arrested after 17 years in attempt to murder case in Delhi

The Delhi Police crime branch teams have arrested two proclaimed offenders — absconding for 17 years in a 19-year-old attempt to murder case — separately from Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, an official said on Monday.

The accused, Iqbal Singh alias Palla (46) and Bhupender Singh alias Lovely (47), were wanted in a case registered at Patel Nagar police station in 2007.

“They had jumped bail and were later declared proclaimed offenders in 2009 and 2010. The case stemmed from a family dispute after Bhupender married the sister of Amarjit Singh against the latter’s wishes, leading to prolonged enmity between the two families,” a senior police officer said.

He said on April 11, 2007, Iqbal, Bhupender and their associates allegedly attacked Amarjit in the Patel Nagar area with a wooden plank and an iron pipe, inflicting grievous injuries. An FIR was registered.

“Both accused were arrested during the 2007 investigation but later secured bail. However, they failed to appear before the court and remained on the run for nearly 17 years,” the police officer said.

Acting on a tip-off, a team conducted simultaneous raids on July 25 in the Bilaspur area of Rampur and Mayur Vihar in east Delhi, leading to their arrest, he said.

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During the investigation, police found that Bhupender had changed his identity to “Chander Pal”, and had been living in Mayur Vihar while working as a taxi driver to evade arrest. Police said Iqbal had allegedly been changing hideouts across Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand and also worked as a taxi driver during the period he remained absconding.

They said Iqbal is involved in 15 criminal cases, including attempted murder and vehicle theft, registered in Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Bhupender has six previous cases against him. Police said further investigation is underway.