Lucknow, Apr 23 (PTI) A murder accused on the run for 26 years was arrested in a joint operation of the Special Task Force of the Uttar Pradesh Police and the Maharashtra Police, an official statement said on Wednesday.

Vinod Kumar, a resident of Parsahetim village in Siddharthnagar district of Uttar Pradesh, committed a murder in Maharashtra’s Thane district on May 28, 1999, the UP STF said in a statement.

He was caught on Tuesday afternoon from his native village.

A case was registered against him under sections 302 (murder), 363 (kidnapping), 387 (extortion), 397 (robbery), 120B (criminal conspiracy ) and 34 (acts done by several persons with common intention) of the Indian Penal Code at the Bhiwani city police station in Thane district of Maharashtra.

During interrogation, the accused said that on the day of the incident, he, along with Raju Mehta and Kamlesh, called the owner of a factory — Jigar Mahendra Mehta — where they worked, citing problems with the lights.

When Mehta arrived at the factory, they beat him up and demanded Rs 10 lakh as ransom from his family members. On not getting the money, Kumar administered an anaesthetic injection, then slit the factory owner’s throat.

Kumar told the police that after committing the crime, he fled and lived in Delhi with his relatives for some time. He later moved to his village, the STF said in the statement. PTI NAV RHL