Delhi Police arrest two brothers absconding after life term in 1996 murder case
Delhi Police has arrested two brothers who absconded after their life sentence was upheld in a 1996 murder case. Their capture across two states ends years of evasion and revives links to another pending murder probe.
Delhi Police has arrested two brothers who had been evading arrest for nearly a decade after being sentenced to life imprisonment in a murder case. The accused, Firasat Ali, 56, and Shah Nawaz Ali, 51, were caught in coordinated operations in Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand, and have now been lodged in Tihar Jail.
Police said the brothers were convicted in a 1996 murder case registered at Rajouri Garden police station in Delhi and were sentenced to life imprisonment by a Delhi court in 2000. They were later granted bail while their appeal was pending before the Delhi High Court.
An officer said, "However, after the High Court upheld their conviction on May 12, 2016, and directed them to surrender to serve the remaining sentence, both absconded instead of returning to jail."
Firasat was arrested from Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh, while Shah Nawaz was apprehended in Godda, Jharkhand, police said. Firasat was also a proclaimed offender in a 2006 Mumbai contract killing case. Police said he was arrested by Mumbai Police in 2018, but was later granted bail in that case.
In the Delhi murder case, he was given a two-week furlough in 2023, but did not surrender before jail authorities. Shah Nawaz, police said, had remained on the run since 2016 after his appeal was dismissed.
The Delhi case goes back to September 27, 1996, when a dispute over the purchase of an old saree at a second-hand clothes market in Raghubir Nagar led to a violent attack later that day.
A senior police officer said, "Shah Nawaz, along with Firasat and two associates, barged into the complainant's house armed with knives and fatally stabbed Ishtiaq Ahmed alias Pappu, while two other family members sustained injuries." Police said all four accused were arrested during the investigation and later convicted.
In the Mumbai case, police had recovered an unidentified human torso wrapped in a plastic bag near Bhindi Bazaar in May 2006. The victim's head and limbs had been severed and disposed of separately.
An officer said, "The case remained unsolved for over a decade before investigators identified the victim as Kisan Kharva in 2018. Police alleged that his wife had hired Firasat and another associate to kill him for Rs 2 lakh due to persistent domestic abuse and suspicion over her character."
According to police, Firasat allegedly murdered Kharva, dismembered the body and dumped the remains at different locations before absconding after securing bail from the Bombay High Court in 2021. He was later declared a proclaimed offender.
Police said the brothers had been moving across several states to avoid being traced. An officer said, "The brothers had been frequently changing locations across Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana while working as clothes merchants to avoid detection.
Both accused have been lodged in Tihar Jail. The Mumbai Police has also been informed about Firasat's arrest in connection with the contract killing case."
Delhi Police has arrested two brothers who had been evading arrest for nearly a decade after being sentenced to life imprisonment in a murder case. The accused, Firasat Ali, 56, and Shah Nawaz Ali, 51, were caught in coordinated operations in Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand, and have now been lodged in Tihar Jail.
Police said the brothers were convicted in a 1996 murder case registered at Rajouri Garden police station in Delhi and were sentenced to life imprisonment by a Delhi court in 2000. They were later granted bail while their appeal was pending before the Delhi High Court.
An officer said, "However, after the High Court upheld their conviction on May 12, 2016, and directed them to surrender to serve the remaining sentence, both absconded instead of returning to jail."
Firasat was arrested from Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh, while Shah Nawaz was apprehended in Godda, Jharkhand, police said. Firasat was also a proclaimed offender in a 2006 Mumbai contract killing case. Police said he was arrested by Mumbai Police in 2018, but was later granted bail in that case.
In the Delhi murder case, he was given a two-week furlough in 2023, but did not surrender before jail authorities. Shah Nawaz, police said, had remained on the run since 2016 after his appeal was dismissed.
The Delhi case goes back to September 27, 1996, when a dispute over the purchase of an old saree at a second-hand clothes market in Raghubir Nagar led to a violent attack later that day.
A senior police officer said, "Shah Nawaz, along with Firasat and two associates, barged into the complainant's house armed with knives and fatally stabbed Ishtiaq Ahmed alias Pappu, while two other family members sustained injuries." Police said all four accused were arrested during the investigation and later convicted.
In the Mumbai case, police had recovered an unidentified human torso wrapped in a plastic bag near Bhindi Bazaar in May 2006. The victim's head and limbs had been severed and disposed of separately.
An officer said, "The case remained unsolved for over a decade before investigators identified the victim as Kisan Kharva in 2018. Police alleged that his wife had hired Firasat and another associate to kill him for Rs 2 lakh due to persistent domestic abuse and suspicion over her character."
According to police, Firasat allegedly murdered Kharva, dismembered the body and dumped the remains at different locations before absconding after securing bail from the Bombay High Court in 2021. He was later declared a proclaimed offender.
Police said the brothers had been moving across several states to avoid being traced. An officer said, "The brothers had been frequently changing locations across Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana while working as clothes merchants to avoid detection.
Both accused have been lodged in Tihar Jail. The Mumbai Police has also been informed about Firasat's arrest in connection with the contract killing case."
