AHMEDABAD: After evading for 13 years after jumping parole, a death-row convict linked to one of Ahmedabad’s most brutal murder-and-robbery cases has finally been arrested by the Gujarat Police.
The accused had beheaded a businessman inside a hotel room in 1994, stuffed the body into a travel bag, and dumped it near Adalaj before disappearing.
The Gujarat Police’s Ahmedabad Crime Branch arrested the death-row convict.
The accused has been identified as Satish Ruparelia, also known by the aliases Bhikhu and Sanjay Thakkar, the prime accused in the Neelam Hotel murder case.
The case dates back to October 22, 1994, when cloth merchant Arvind Shah was allegedly lured to Ahmedabad’s Neelam Hotel with the promise of a lucrative discounted cloth deal. However, it was a trap to rob Shah.
According to investigators, Satish and his associates targeted the businessman for cash and gold ornaments. Inside the hotel room, the accused allegedly murdered Arvind Shah.
Police said Satish severed the victim’s head from his torso in an attempt to destroy evidence and conceal the identity of the deceased. The mutilated body was then packed into a travel bag, transported from Ahmedabad to Adalaj, and dumped in a deserted area to mislead investigators and erase traces of the crime.
Following an extensive probe, Satish Ruparelia was chargesheeted under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code, robbery, and criminal conspiracy. In April 2000, the Additional City Sessions Court of Ahmedabad awarded him the death penalty, observing the extreme cruelty and inhuman nature of the crime.
However, despite being sentenced to death, Satish later received temporary parole during his imprisonment. In 2013, he exploited that legal relief, violated parole conditions, and never returned to prison.
For nearly 13 years, the convict managed to stay out of prison by constantly shifting locations, changing identities, and using fake names. Investigators say he carefully avoided detection, making him one of the city’s longest-absconding death-row convicts.
Ahmedabad Crime Branch launched an intensive manhunt using technical surveillance, intelligence gathering, and ground-level tracking operations.
Crime Branch officials formed a special tracking team that quietly monitored movements, collected human intelligence, and pieced together clues from multiple locations before zeroing in on the fugitive’s hideout.
The Crime Branch surrounded the location and arrested Satish Ruparelia without any resistance.
Officials confirmed that all legal formalities against the absconding convict have now been completed, and he has been sent back to judicial custody for execution of the original sentence awarded by the court.
