NEW DELHI: A 57-year-old life convict, who allegedly changed his identity and became a builder in Dehradun after jumping interim bail in a 31-year-old kidnapping-for-ransom case involving a Rs 1 crore demand, has been arrested after 26 years on the run, police said.
Amit Yadav, a native of Saidpur in Uttar Pradesh, was apprehended on the night of August 13 by a Crime Branch team, they said.
Yadav was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1999 but was granted interim bail by the Delhi High Court in January 2000 for one month. He failed to surrender after the bail period and remained absconding for 26 years.
A reward of Rs 5,000 was declared for his arrest and he was declared a proclaimed offender. The case relates to the kidnapping of Rishi Sethi in September 1995. Sethi was abducted from near the residence of the then AIIMS director and taken to an undisclosed location, where he was confined.
The kidnappers demanded Rs 1 crore from his family. Acting on their directions, Rs 10 lakh was kept at a hotel in Meerut. Yadav was arrested while collecting the ransom money, and the entire amount was recovered.
Biometric records traced
Breakthrough came after police traced Yadav’s biometric records from 1999 and established his identity. He was found living in Dehradun, where he had changed his identity and become a builder.
