Mumbai crime branch nabs criminal after 16 yrs using his daughter's call records

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Absconding since 2002 in an attempt to murder case, the Mumbai Crime Branch on Tuesday managed to trace the accused and arrest him. Identified as Sahdeo Chakre, 45, he has been handed over to the MIDC police, who had filed the case against him in 1992.

Chakre had attacked a man with a chopper after the latter's argument with his (Chakre's) younger brother. He had been arrested under section 307 of the Indian Penal Code. He had later secured bail and was directed to present himself in court for every hearing. Sometime in 2002, he started avoiding the summons, resulting in the court declaring him as wanted in the case.

Joining the dots
To trace him, the police kept visiting his home regularly, but aside from ending up irritating his family, they failed to make any headway in the case. With no word from him for years together, the family even thought that he was dead.

Then, two months back, the crime branch got a tip-off that he might be in touch with his sister, who stays in Nalasopara. Investigators paid her a visit and went through her contacts and call history, finding the mobile number of Chakre's daughter, also a Nalasopara resident. The police checked her contacts and call history as well, going through the details of nearly 30 people.

An officer said, "Through all this scouring, we came across a number the daughter had made contact with frequently. We took the help of our technical team to trace it and managed to find the accused holed up in Virar."

A new identity
According to the police, during interrogation, Chakre revealed that he had become fed up with the court dates and wanted to be free; hence, he scarpered and started living under a new identity. He took up residence in Virar's Manvel Pada and worked as a bouncer at building sites in Malad.

The police found only five contacts in his phone - daughter's, sister's and of people related to his work. He never contacted his wife, mother, father, brother or friends in all these years. The MIDC police, who now have his custody, said there are several other cases registered against him, including an extortion case with them and a murder case with the Khar police.

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