Ahmedabad murder accused caught from Delhi after 22 years

The Ahmedabad City Local Crime Branch (LCB) on Saturday arrested a murder accused who had been on the run for over 22 years. Acting on specific intelligence, officials tracked down and apprehended the accused from Delhi’s Shahdara area, bringing closure to a 2003 murder case registered at Sabarmati police station.

A special team from Zone-2 had been tasked with locating long-absconding accused in serious crimes such as murder, robbery, and burglary.

In a 2003 incident, the body of a young man, Prakash Natubhai Jamod, was found stabbed to death with a sharp weapon on the paved road between Chenpur and Gota Chandlodia in Ahmedabad. A murder case was subsequently registered against Anil Rameshchandra Soni at Sabarmati police station.

Investigations revealed that the accused, Anil Soni, originally from Bhind district of Madhya Pradesh, had a personal motive rooted in a failed relationship. In 1999, a relative of Anil had married into the Soni family from Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh. During the same period, Radha (name changed), the younger sister of the bride who had recently divorced, was considered for marriage to Anil. However, Radha developed a relationship with Prakash Jamod, and both began living together, causing Anil’s proposed marriage alliance to fall through.

On February 3, 2003, a heated confrontation took place between Anil and Prakash at a workplace in Ranip where Radha was employed. Consumed by rage, Anil, along with his associate Suresh Rathod, decided to eliminate Prakash. Later that night, they intercepted Prakash on his way home, assaulted him, and fatally stabbed him in the abdomen and chest. Prakash’s body was discovered early the next morning on the roadside.

Following the murder, Anil fled from Ahmedabad and relocated to Delhi, where he assumed a low-profile life, working as a construction contractor and operating a foot lorry selling ice cream to avoid detection. The police officials gathered crucial human intelligence and technical inputs pointing to Anil’s whereabouts. A team was dispatched to Delhi on Thursday.

After two days of persistent surveillance disguised as vendors and local workers, the team successfully located Anil at a construction site in Ashok Nagar, Shahdara. Upon confirming his identity, they arrested him and began legal proceedings to hand him over to the Sabarmati police for further action.

The accused, Anil Rameshchandra Soni, 46, has a prior criminal record, including a case under at Nayagaon police station in Bhind, Madhya Pradesh.