Eight years after 'killing' girlfriend in Delhi, man arrested from Raxaul after fleeing Nepal jail during unrest

New Delhi: A man accused of killing his girlfriend eight years ago in Delhi after she refused to marry him has been arrested from the India-Nepal border after escaping from a Nepal prison during the recent unrest in the neighbouring country, police said on Monday.

Arjun Kumar alias Bhola (31), who carried a reward of Rs 1 lakh for information leading to his arrest, had been on the run after allegedly stabbing his girlfriend multiple times before slitting her throat on November 16, 2017, they said.

Kumar got involved in another heinous crime in Nepal after escaping there. His friend Nausad, a resident of Nepal, was in a relationship with a married woman, which was strongly opposed by her family members. Kumar murdered the woman’s mother for which he was sentenced to prison for 25 years there, police said.

“Kumar developed a relationship with the victim, who lived in the same building as his family in New Ashok Nagar. When she refused to marry him and her family arranged her marriage elsewhere, he allegedly killed her, locked the rented room where the crime was committed, and fled,” DCP (Crime Branch) Harsh Indora said.

The victim’s father lodged a missing complaint the next day, naming Kumar as a suspect. The girl’s body was later recovered from the accused's room, the officer said.

Accordingly, a murder case was registered and Kumar was declared a proclaimed offender after he absconded. Despite extensive searches, Kumar could not be traced for years, the officer said.

“Investigators later learnt that he had crossed over to Nepal, where he got involved in another heinous crime,” he added.

Kumar and his associates murdered the mother of his friend's girlfriend by stabbing her and slitting her throat. He was convicted in the case and sentenced to 25 years in prison, the officer said.

“During the recent unrest in Nepal, there was a jailbreak during which Kumar managed to escape. After intelligence was received that he was attempting to cross over to India and go to his native place in Bihar, a team was strategically deployed on the border, which arrested him from Raxaul,” the DCP said.

The officer said the Crime Branch kept surveillance on him for years, even after his conviction in Nepal. Once the jailbreak was confirmed, inputs were quickly developed and a team carried out the operation that led to his arrest, he said.

Kumar, who studied till Class 5, had been working in Delhi before the 2017 murder. He had a violent streak and repeated his crime pattern in Nepal, the officer said.

At least 51 people, including an Indian national, died in the recent 'Gen Z' protest that erupted across Nepal against corruption and a ban on social media sites.

The violence continued even after Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli's resignation last Tuesday, with protesters setting fire to the Parliament, the President's office, the prime minister's residence, government buildings, party offices and homes of senior leaders.

On Friday night, former Nepal chief justice Sushila Karki was sworn in as the country’s first woman prime minister to head an interim government, ending days of unrest.