New Delhi, Apr 20 (PTI) A proclaimed offender who was on the run for over four years in a murder case was arrested after a 600-kilometre chase across multiple states, Delhi Police said on Sunday.

The accused, Sonu alias Manoj, was arrested from Panipat in Haryana on Saturday, police said in a statement.

Sonu abducted, shot dead and beheaded a youth, Anil, in outer Delhi’s Kanjhawala area on February 4, 2016, as the latter had earlier beaten him over a dispute. Anil’s decapitated and naked body was found in Kanjhawala, it said.

The investigation revealed that Sonu conspired with co-accused Sombir and Pankaj to eliminate Anil.

“The accused abducted the victim in a Scorpio, shot him in the chest and then decapitated the body to conceal his identity. The severed head was dumped separately in a nearby drain,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Vikram Singh.

In 2020, Sonu was granted interim bail by court on the grounds that his father, who was suffering from cancer, needed treatment. Sonu jumped bail and had been on the run ever since. He was working as a truck driver and would frequently change his location to avoid detection, the DCP said.

He was declared a proclaimed offender in 2023, the officer said.

Sonu was arrested from Panipat after a 600-kilometre chase across multiple states, police said.

He has been booked under sections 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence), 365 (kidnapping), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), along with provisions of the Arms Act. He has been produced in court and further investigation is underway, they said. PTI SSJ DIV DIV