Crime news: The Delhi Police has nabbed a “most wanted criminal” from Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur, five years after he escaped during his parole, officials said on Sunday (November 19). The criminal, identified as Vijay Pahalwan, 52, is booked in 24 cases, including those of murder, attempt to murder and sexual harassment, in Delhi, Haryana, Gujarat and Maharashtra. A reward of Rs 2 lakh was also announced on information leading to his arrest, they added. A team of Crime Branch was given the job to arrest people named in the cases of heinous crimes and absconding, Special Commissioner of Police (Crime) RS Yadav said.
"Information from police and judicial records was gathered. Complete criminal records of accused maintained in numerous police files, SCRB records and concerned trial courts was analysed. From the analysis of the records, it was found that a proclaimed offender in a murder case was hiding in Jabalpur," Yadav said.
According to the police, after tracing Pahalwan's location, a special team was formed and dispatched to Jabalpur, which led to his arrest.
"In 2011, he (Pahalwan) had murdered Raghuvir Singh (69) after abducting him from the Kishangarh area of Delhi. He took the victim to the Andheri Mor area in Delhi where he asked him to give his plot. When the victim refused, he shot him and dumped his body in a forest area near DLF Phase-II in Gurugram," Yadav said.
Soon after being arrested, Pahalwan revealed that he had got parole of two days in April 2018 and he jumped it, the police added.
Police reveal further detail
Using the name Vikram Singh, the accused started working at a 'pehalwani akhara' in Kohlapur in Maharashtra.
He met a woman during his stay in Maharashtra and moved to Chhattisgarh’s Raipur after two years, where he took up a property business, the police said.
While living in Raipur, Pahalwan came in contact with his friends and one of them asked him to start a property business in Jabalpur, they said.
He moved his business to the Madhya Pradesh city after operating for two years in Raipur.
"For the last one year, he was running his property business in Jabalpur. He used to buy land, villas and farms, and sell these at higher prices, earning huge profits. He has a farmhouse in the Jabalpur area, wherein, he had employed 14 people," the special commissioner of police said.
The criminal had employed four armed bodyguards for his safety, Yadav said.
"He has two sons and both are lawyers, who indulged in 'pairvi' of criminal cases registered against him," the officer said.
The officials said the cases Pahalwan is named in also include those related to criminal conspiracy, theft, criminal intimidation and the Arms Act.
(With PTI inputs)
