‘Killer’ on run for 30 years finally arrested

(From left) DCP (Detection 1) Raj Tilak Roushan and Senior Police Inspector Dayanand Nayak with other cops and the murder suspect

The Mumbai crime branch on Friday apprehended a 49-year-old man, wanted in a double-murder in Lonavala, after three decades. Avinash Bhimrao Pawar was on the run since killing a couple in their home in 1993, police said.

The Lonavala City police station had registered a case against Pawar under Sections 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. He is accused of murdering Dhanraj Thakrasi Kurwa, 55, and Dhanlaxmi Dhanraj Kurwa, 50, while robbing their residence at Valvan Satyam Society in Lonavala.

The local police investigated the case initially and apprehended two individuals - Amol John Kale, aged 24 at the time, and Vijay Arun Desai, aged 21 back in 1993. However, Pawar, who was around 19 years old at the time, managed to evade arrest and was declared an absconder.

Senior officers attribute the breakthrough in the cold case to the diligent efforts of the crime branch's Unit-9 in Bandra. Senior Police Inspector Dayanand Nayak, who was leading the team, had received information about a 49-year-old man living under the assumed identity of Amit Bhimraj Pawar.

After conducting discreet surveillance and verifying the information, the team successfully apprehended the suspect on Friday, cops said. During interrogation, he confessed to being Avinash Bhimrao Pawar. Over the years, he had altered his date of birth and frequently changed his place of residence to dodge law enforcement agencies. At the time of his arrest, he was residing in Mumbai.

Pawar fled to Delhi following the murders and worked at a hotel until 1994. "From 1994 to 1996, he lived in Kasara and worked at a garage. From 1997 to 1998, he lived in Ahmednagar where he was employed at a hotel. Since 1999, he had been living in Vikhroli," said Nayak.

He will now be transferred to the Lonavala City police station for further investigation and filing of charges.

"This significant development brings closure to a decades-old murder case, offering a sense of justice to the victims' families. The Mumbai crime branch's relentless pursuit of unsolved cases highlights their commitment to keeping the streets safe and bringing perpetrators to justice," said Raj Tilak Roushan, deputy commissioner of police, Detection 1.

1993
Year the youth killed elderly couple