KOCHI: An Uttarakhand man who had absconded after hacking a woman in broad daylight at Azad Road in Kochi was nabbed from Goa on Sunday night after a 15-month-long pursuit. Farooq Ali, 25, belonging to the Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand, was brought to Kochi on Monday by the Ernakulam North Police and his arrest recorded.
It was on December 3 in 2022 that Farooq attacked Sandhya Mangar, 27, — belonging to Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri, in West Bengal — who was staying at a rented accommodation in Kaloor. Sandhya and Farooq worked together at a beauty parlour in Kollam, and they were close friends. However, Sandhya ended the friendship and shifted to Kochi by joining a beauty parlour in Kaloor. Angered by the decision, Farooq reached Kochi to force her to go with him, the police said.
While the woman was walking towards the beauty parlour, Farooq arrived near her on a motorcycle. When Sandhya refused to heed his call, Farooq took out a machete and swung it towards her neck, which she managed to block. He then hacked Sandhya on her back and left hand. Farooq soon fled the spot and Sandhya underwent multiple surgeries at a private hospital in Kochi. After the incident, the accused left Kerala and remained in hiding in various other states.
“He even disposed of his SIM card and mobile phone to evade police detection. We kept the investigation on and our team went to his native place. But we could not trace him out then,” Ernakulam North Police SHO Prathap Chandran K G said.
Recently, the police found that his social media accounts had become active again, prompting the police to reactivate the pursuit for him.
“He would become active on social media platforms only late night or early morning. A sub-inspector was deployed to monitor his activities on social media. By then, we managed to get the mobile phone number using which these social media accounts were being operated. That led us to Goa where he was hiding for the past several months,” the officer said.
Soon, a special squad from the Ernakulam North police station was dispatched to Goa to trace Farooq. The police stayed in Goa for a day and monitored his activities before nabbing him on Sunday night. The police suspect that Farooq was threatening the woman to withdraw her complaint. He was produced before the court and remanded to judicial custody.