Mumbai: Killer wanted for four years in cab driver's murder held from UP

Nearly four years after he fled after murdering a 37-year-old cab driver in Nallasopara, the killer goon identified as- Sachin Sunil Upadhyay finally landed into the custody of the crime branch unit attached to the Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar (MBVV) police on Friday. Upadhyay was arrested from Varanasi in a joint operation by the MBVV police and their Special Task Force (STF) counterparts in Uttar Pradesh.

According to the police, the deceased Raj Bahadur Patel (37) was a driver with a multinational ridesharing company. He lived in the Gauri Naka area of Nallasopara and was on his way home after parking his car, on the night of 8, November, 2018, when he was stopped by the goon who demanded money to buy liquor. Irate over Patel’s flat refusal, Upadhyay attacked him on his head with some sharp object.

Three days later, Raj Bahadur Patel succumbed to his injuries on 11, November while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Mumbai. An offence under section 302 of the IPC was registered against the accused who immediately fled the city and managed to evade the police dragnet for nearly four years. The crime branch unit which was investigating the case, recently got some leads about the whereabouts of the fugitive in Uttar-Pradesh.

The team led by Police Inspector-Aviraj Kurhade under the guidance of DCP ( Crime)- Dr. MaheshPatil, immediately established contact with the STF and managed to apprehend the accused in a joint operation near the railway station. The accused, who is a native of Machhlishahr town in Jaunpur district, had been frequently changing his location to dodge the police and evade arrest, police said. Further investigations were on to ascertain the involvement of the goon in other crimes.