Mangaluru (Karnataka), March 7 A man who had been on the run for nearly nine years in connection with a 2017 murder case was arrested by the Mangaluru crime branch police in Bengaluru, officials said on Saturday.
The accused, Sufiyan alias Kotreshi (31), was apprehended near the Shyampur Railway Gate in Bengaluru, they said.
Police said he was allegedly involved in the abduction and murder of Sapnan in Surathkal in 2017.
According to police, the victim was abducted, assaulted, and later murdered by the gang, which subsequently disposed of the body in a forest area near Agumbe in the Shivamogga district.
Sufiyan had been on the run since the incident and had moved to several places, including Ballari, Mumbai, and parts of Andhra Pradesh, to evade arrest, investigators said.
Police said the accused later settled in Bengaluru under a different identity as Mohammed Sufiyan Hussain and allegedly obtained documents such as an Aadhaar card, passport, and driving license in that name.
He had previously been arrested in 2012 by the Brucepet Police Station in a murder case registered for allegedly killing an elderly woman during a robbery attempt.
Police said the accused had spent around four years in jail in that case before being granted bail.
Four criminal cases, including murder, extortion, and theft, are registered against him, police said, adding that he has been handed over to the Surathkal police for further investigation.