A man convicted and sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for raping his minor daughter was arrested in Rajasthan after remaining absconding for 27 years, Faridabad police officials said on Saturday.
Police said lack of photographs, Aadhaar and phone usage delayed arrest, with repeated raids in Bihar failing for years. (File photo)
Investigators said the convict, now aged 64, was arrested on Thursday in Talheti village in Udaipur district, where he had been living under a changed identity for several years. Police said he had earlier moved across different districts in Haryana, Punjab and Gujarat before shifting to Rajasthan about four years ago.
According to police, the victim was 14 years old when she registered an FIR against her father at City Ballabgarh police station on October 2, 1996. Yashpal Yadav, public relations officer of Faridabad police, said, “A court of additional sessions judge PC Goyal sentenced the man to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of ₹5,000 on April 21, 1998. However, he filed an appeal challenging his sentence before the Punjab and Haryana High Court.”
Yadav said the high court granted him bail within a few months, after which he became traceless.
Police said the convict never enrolled for Aadhaar, did not possess or use a mobile phone, and left no digital footprint to avoid being tracked. Investigators said the absence of photographs further hampered efforts to trace him.
The court of the chief judicial magistrate in Faridabad had been issuing rearrest warrants for several years, but repeated raids at his native place in Sasaram in Bihar and other suspected locations yielded no results. A fresh rearrest warrant was issued on December 5, 2025, following which the matter was escalated to senior police officials.
The task was assigned to head constable Manoj Mudgil, posted at Sikri police post, Faridabad, who has earlier tracked more than 71 long-absconding criminals.
Investigators said Mudgil’s team approached the convict’s son, who lives in Rajiv Colony, Faridabad, on December 26. Police told him to produce a death certificate of his father or face continued police action. Officials said he left for Udaipur on December 31, followed discreetly by the police team.
A police official said the son met an elderly suspect in Talheti and returned to Faridabad, after which surveillance in the village was intensified. “On Thursday, the suspect stepped out to approach a government office for a death certificate and was arrested. He was brought to Faridabad and sent to judicial custody,” the official said.
Police also said the victim died 23 years ago while delivering a child after her marriage.
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