Fugitive carrying Rs 20,000 reward arrested

New Delhi, Apr 11 (UNI) Five years of chase finally got the police one of its prized catch.

Uma Shankar alias Raju (35), carrying a Rs 20,000 reward on his head and wanted in a kidnapping for ransom case, was arrested from his Farsh Bazar residence in East Delhi yesterday where he had been hiding under a changed identity, DCP (Crime) Tajendra Luthra told newspersons.

''Wanted in three cases of kidnapping for ransom, robbery and extortion, Raju had earlier been booked under the TADA.'' He had been escaping the police dragnet for the past five years involving the kidnapping of a Punjabi Bagh businessman S K Dewan and seeking a ransom of Rs ten lakh. After he was acquitted by the court in the case he sold off his ancestral home in Gandhi Nagar and started living in Bihari Colony in Shahdara area under an assumed name, said the DCP.

''A Rs 20,000 reward was announced after he failed to respond to court notices.'' He lorded over a gang of seven, which included girls, who would be used as baits to trap gullible victims, Mr Luthra added.

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