16 yrs on, man held over murder in Palghar; tells cops he committed similar crime in UP in 1998

Palghar, Dec 24 (PTI) The arrest of a 42-year-old man for his alleged involvement in a 16-year-old murder case in Maharashtra’s Palghar district has brought to the fore his role in a similar crime committed in Uttar Pradesh in 1998, police said on Wednesday.

Avinash Lalta Prasad Soni and a few others were booked in 2009 in the murder of a man over brokerage money in Nalasopara. While the other accused were arrested, Soni fled to Itarsi in Madhya Pradesh and lived there for several years under a false identity, they said.

Acting on inputs, the police arrested Soni from Naigaon East, on the outskirts of Mumbai, on December 22, said senior inspector Vishal Valvi from Nalasopara police station.

The investigation took a dramatic turn when Soni admitted to a much older crime. He confessed to committing a murder on the day of Holi in 1998 in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, along with four accomplices, said Valvi.

“We are taking further action after receiving information from Kotwali police station in Azamgarh,” he said. PTI COR NR