NEW DELHI: A 46-year-old murder convict, who absconded during the COVID-19 pandemic has been apprehended in Mumbai, police said on Sunday.
The accused identified as Ajay Kumar Tripathi, who was serving a life sentence for kidnapping and murdering a boy in Delhi, was found working as a delivery executive for a food app in the Ghatkopar area of the city.
According to police, Tripathi was convicted of kidnapping and murdering a child in 2000 in Delhi.
He was serving a life sentence when he was granted parole on July 23, 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic. “On Sept 19, 2021, when his parole ended, Tripathi did not return. Police discovered that he had changed his identity to Akshay Kumar and moved to Mumbai with his three-year-old son,” said a senior officer.
This was not his first instance of absconding. “In 2010 also, he jumped parole and evaded arrest for five years,” the officer said. To track him down this time, police collected information from his previous addresses and jail records, and found Tripathi had moved to the Maharashtra capital. “A team camped in Mumbai and traced Tripathi to Gautam Nagar in Chembur. He was apprehended on December 28,” the officer said.