AHMEDABAD: After 19 years on the run, Gujarat’s Surat City police have finally nabbed Naresh Kesrimalji Rawal, the prime accused in a brutal 2007 robbery and murder case.
Rawal, who had been living under a fake identity in Karnataka’s Udupi district, was arrested by the Special Operations Group (SOG) in a dramatic undercover operation.
Surat city DCP Rajdeep Singh Nakum said, “The SOG team arrested a wanted accused carrying a reward of Rs 45,000. Back in 2007, when he was working as a driver, he and his accomplices killed and robbed a security guard. Our team tracked him down to Udupi, Karnataka, where he was finally arrested.”
Surat’s most wanted fugitive, Naresh Kesrimalji Rawal, has finally been captured after evading the law for 19 long years. Rawal, the prime accused in a 2007 robbery and murder case, was arrested by the Surat Special Operations Group (SOG) in Udupi, Karnataka, where he had been hiding under a false identity.
The dramatic case traces back to Umra, Surat, where Rawal, then employed as a driver for a family whose sons lived abroad, plotted a deadly robbery.
Exploiting his access to the house, Rawal brought in his accomplice Ravi Pandey and tipped off partners-in-crime Vijay Gupta and Santosh Gupta.
On the fateful day, Rawal and his gang held the elderly couple hostage and murdered the watchman who tried to resist them. They escaped with gold ornaments and foreign currency worth over ₹2 lakh, leaving behind terror and bloodshed.
Police acted swiftly and arrested Vijay and Santosh Gupta, but Rawal and Pandey vanished without a trace. Rawal, the mastermind, hopped across cities Mumbai, Chennai, Belgaum, Uttara Kannada frequently changing his name and identity to dodge law enforcement.
With a Rs 45,000 reward announced for his capture, the trail ran cold until a recent intelligence tip-off revealed that he was living in Udupi. Acting on this lead, SOG officers disguised themselves as South Indian traders, infiltrated the locality, and confirmed his identity.
Rawal had assumed the name Nirmal Kesrimalji Korawar, working as a marble labourer and driver while marrying a local woman from the Korawar community to blend in further.
After days of surveillance, SOG finally pounced and arrested Rawal, bringing a two-decade-old manhunt to a dramatic close.
Police also revealed that Rawal had two earlier housebreaking cases registered at Surat city’s Umra police station in 2005, highlighting his deep-rooted criminal history. His associate Ravi Pandey, however, remains at large, keeping the investigation active.