Delhi man who killed taxi drivers, dumped bodies in Uttarakhand forests arrested after 25 years: Police

New Delhi: A 49-year-old man, who was on the run for around 25 years, has been arrested in Delhi in connection with a string of crimes where he allegedly hired taxis, killed the drivers, dumped their bodies in remote forested areas of Uttarakhand and sold the vehicles off across the Nepal border, a senior police officer said on Sunday.

The accused, Ajay Lamba alias Banshi, was wanted in four brutal robbery-cum-murder cases across Delhi and Uttarakhand. He was declared a proclaimed offender in all the cases, including a 2001 murder case registered at the New Ashok Nagar police station here, police said.

Lamba was the alleged mastermind behind a string of heinous crimes committed between 1999 and 2001, in which he, along with associates, targeted taxi drivers, killed them, looted their vehicles and dumped the bodies in remote forested areas of Uttarakhand to evade identification, the officer said.

"Born in 1976 and originally a resident of Delhi's Krishna Nagar, Ajay dropped out of school after Class 6 and became involved in crime at an early age. He was previously declared a 'Bad Character' by the Vikas Puri police under the alias 'Banshi'. In 1996, he changed his name to Ajay Lamba and shifted base to Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, where he teamed up with accomplices Dhirendra and Dilip Negi," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Aditya Gautam said.

Together, they operated a violent criminal enterprise in which taxis were hired, the drivers killed, the vehicles looted and resold across the Nepal border, he added.

Police said Lamba was never arrested in the four robbery-cum-murder cases lodged against him in Delhi, Haldwani, Almora and Champawat. He was declared a proclaimed offender in all cases and also faced earlier charges, including theft and arms possession, dating back to the 1990s.

Lamba managed to remain undetected for more than two decades by frequently changing locations and identities. From 2008 to 2018, he lived in Nepal with his family and later, moved to Dehradun. In 2020, he became involved in narcotics smuggling, allegedly working in the ganja-supply network from Odisha to Delhi and other parts of India, the DCP added.

He was arrested in a case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act by the Sagarpur police in 2021 and again in connection with a jewellery-shop dacoity in Odisha's Berhampur in 2024. He was out on bail in both cases and never disclosed his fugitive status to anyone, police said, adding that they apprehended Lamba from Delhi in a coordinated operation.