Varanasi STF Nabs Murder Accused in Guwahati After 12 Years

The Varanasi unit of the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force has arrested a man carrying a ₹50,000 reward who had been on the run for 12 years in a murder case, tracking him down to a rented house in Guwahati, Assam.

Rajkumar Verma alias Pradeep Verma was arrested on Thursday by the STF's Varanasi field unit, according to the STF. He was wanted in a murder case registered at Sahatwar police station in Ballia district and had been absconding since 2012.

The STF says questioning has also brought up his alleged contacts with the banned CPI (Maoist), and that angle is now being investigated.

The STF had received information that Verma was hiding in Guwahati. The team gathered local information and kept watch on his movements in the Vashistha police station area. It then surrounded and raided a house on Bajra Para Road and arrested him. Police recovered ₹2,400 in cash and an Aadhaar card from him.

According to the STF, a case, crime number 280/2012, is registered against Verma at Sahatwar police station under several serious sections, including murder. He had stayed out of police reach ever since it was registered.

When he could not be traced for a long time, police stepped up the search, and a reward of ₹50,000 was later announced for information leading to his arrest. After receiving information that the accused was in another state, the Varanasi STF confirmed his location before moving in.

Investigators are now trying to find out what kind of contact he had with the Maoist organisation and where he set up hideouts after 2012. The STF is also collecting details of older cases registered against him in Ballia.

Police will look into his role in the 2012 murder case, what he did during his years in hiding, and whether he was involved in any other crimes, along with his contacts, according to the STF.

After the arrest, Verma was produced before the relevant court in Guwahati as required by law, and the process of bringing him to Uttar Pradesh on transit remand was taken up. The STF will hand him over to Ballia police, after which further proceedings in the Sahatwar case will follow.

The alleged Maoist link is the part of the case that is still unclear. The STF has not said what form the contact took or whether any separate case has been registered on that basis. At this stage, it is an allegation under investigation.

Once Verma is handed over to Ballia police, proceedings against him in the 2012 murder case can resume in the district. His arrest ends 12 years in which the accused in crime number 280/2012 was beyond the reach of the police.