Delhi Woman Wanted in 1990 Murder Case Arrested After 20 Years on the Run

New Delhi: A woman serving a life sentence for kidnapping and murdering a 10-year-old boy in Delhi in 1990 was arrested in Haridwar after allegedly evading authorities for more than two decades, police said on Wednesday.

Sadhana alias Pooja was arrested on September 27 after she allegedly failed to surrender in January 2006 following the expiry of her extended parole. She had been convicted in the kidnapping and murder of Deepak alias Babloo under the then Indian Penal Code provisions for murder, kidnapping and criminal conspiracy.

According to police, Deepak went missing from Azadpur on January 6, 1990. Witnesses reportedly saw Sadhana holding the boy’s hand while crossing GT Road. She and co-accused Raj Kumar were later arrested from Jahangir Puri.

Police said the two were living together and that a dispute with the boy’s family allegedly led to a revenge plot. Sadhana was convicted after being identified as the last person seen with the child and for her alleged role in the conspiracy.

She had been in jail since January 9, 1990, before being released on parole on December 27, 2005. Her parole was extended by three weeks on medical grounds, but she failed to return to prison on January 18, 2006.

Crime Branch teams continued efforts to trace her, eventually receiving information that she was living in Haridwar under an assumed identity. After verification and surveillance, police confirmed her identity and arrested her.

Investigators said Sadhana changed her name to Pooja to conceal her identity. She later worked at a private company in Noida, where she met a carpenter named Keshav. The two lived together in Delhi before moving to Haridwar, where she allegedly married him in a temple and used his name in official documents.

Her arrest on September 27 ended her more than 20-year period of evasion, police said.