Delhi Police nabs murder accused on the run for 25 years

New Delhi, Jan 10 (PTI) Delhi Police arrested a man who had been absconding in a murder case for the past 25 years, an official said on Friday.

Ajay Kumar Dahiya (59), a proclaimed offender, was arrested from the Kala Amb area on the Haryana-Himachal border on January 7, the official said.

He had been living under a false identity for over two decades to evade the law, the official added.

The case dates back to August 2000, when Krishna Sethi accused Dahiya and her daughter-in-law, Saroj, of murdering her son, Ashwani Sethi.

Ashwani Sethi's body, which bore gunshot wounds, was found in the village of Birdhana in Haryana.

Suspicion fell on Saroj and Dahiya after the former disappeared, prompting Krishna Sethi to file an FIR against them at Uttam Nagar Police Station here.

Dahiya and Saroj were declared proclaimed offenders in 2008, police said.

According to the police, interrogation revealed that Dahiya and Saroj were in a relationship complicated by Saroj's marriage to Ashwani.

In 2000, Dahiya lured Ashwani to his village and killed him to eliminate obstacles to their relationship.

"The pair fled Delhi, living in Himachal Pradesh before separating due to frequent conflicts. Saroj disappeared, while Dahiya remarried and assumed a new identity as Sompal. He worked various jobs and eventually ran a tea stall in Kala Amb with his second family," the official said.

"Dahiya had built a new life, even obtaining official identification under his false name,” he added. PTI BM BM BAL ARD ARD