Delhi: Man on run for 15 years arrested

A man who was on the run for 15 years for dacoity and theft was arrested in Mumbai where he was working as a realtor, the Delhi Police’s crime branch said on Sunday.
The accused, Imran Hussain, who is in his 40s, was a member of the “Ramzan Pehalwan Gang” that was active in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh between 2000 and 2010. Hussain committed at least 26 dacoities, thefts, cheating and other crimes, police said.
Explaining the gang’s modus operandi, deputy commissioner of police (crime) Bhisham Singh said that the gang members impersonated postmen or officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and electricity department to enter houses of victims, held their targets at gunpoint and committed dacoities.
The gang leader, Ramzan Pehalwan, and his accomplices Imran Hussain, Javed, Irshad and Nazim, were arrested on November 20, 2009 when they were planning to commit a dacoity in a house posing as the CBI officials. Four country-made pistols, seven cartridges, six big keys, one piler, a screwdriver, and two stolen motorcycles were recovered from them.
“Hussain was released on bail in that case some months later. But he stopped appearing in court. While out on bail, he committed two more cases of dacoity and vehicle theft and was arrested again. He was released on bail again. Then he absconded. So, the court declared him a proclaimed offender in the three cases,” said DCP Singh.
Last week, the crime branch team received information that Hussain was in Mumbai. Hussain’s location was confirmed in Wadala and police conducted a raid at his home on November 20. Hussain was arrested from a cooperative group housing society flat in Wadala.
“Hussain revealed that he is from Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh. He fled to Mumbai to evade arrest and learnt the work of a civil contractor. Later he started working as a builder in Mumbai,” added Singh.