In 1996, Kanpur tailor killed an 8-year-old for ransom, then jumped parole. 26 years later, law catches up

Indian Express

3 days ago

In 1996, Raj Kishore, a 25-year-old tailor, was sentenced to life in prison by a sessions court in Karkardooma for the cold-blooded murder of an eight-year-old boy.
Three years earlier, he had kidnapped the child, demanding a ransom of Rs 30,000 from the boy's businessman father. The father paid up — but Raj strangled the child and dumped his body in a gutter in Kalyanpuri.
He was eventually traced and arrested.
After three years in jail, Raj got out on a six-week parole in 1999. But he never came back. In 2014, he was declared a proclaimed offender on the Delhi High Court's directions.
Twenty-six years later, his luck ran out.
On Saturday, a Delhi Police Crime Branch unit, led by Inspector Mangesh Tyagi and ACP Pankaj Arora, finally nabbed Raj from Ghaziabad.
The kidnapping
It was in 1990 that Raj came to Delhi from Kanpur, looking for work. After doing odd jobs for about 18 months, he finally landed a gig as a tailor at a small garment factory that belonged to Mohammad Asif, a garment businessman in Kalyanpuri, a police officer said.
'The factory made garments for third-party retailers. There were 10-15 workers at the factory, and Asif knew everyone personally,' the officer said.
Asif would often bring his son and his elderly father to the factory. Police said the child would play around, and the workers mingled with him.
Police said Raj noticed that, though small, Asif's business was booming — with his garments even being exported to other countries.
In 1993, Raj quit and decided to extort Asif.
His leverage? Asif's son.
On December 15, 1993, Raj lay in wait near Asif's house in Trilokpuri. He finally found the child alone and lured him with an ice cream, the officer said.
The next day, police said, Raj called Asif. He did not reveal his identity and demanded Rs 30,000 if he wanted his child back. By evening, police officers said, Asif dropped the cash at the location specified by Raj.
Asif kept waiting for his child's return. To his horror, on December 17, Asif was told by the police that his son's body was found — he was killed in a flat in East Delhi's Chilla and dumped in the gutter.
'Raj thought the child would reveal his identity to Asif. So, he murdered him on the night of December 16 and fled,' a police officer said.
On the run
After jumping parole, Raj moved across North India — Punjab, Jaipur, to Patna — living on the outskirts to avoid detection by the authorities. He avoided Kanpur, as he suspected it would be the first place police would look for him.
In 2020, a police officer said, Raj moved to the outskirts of Kanpur. 'The Covid pandemic had struck, and he thought no one would look for him now. So he moved near his village,' the officer said.
The arrest
Meanwhile, the Delhi Police had begun a vigorous search for proclaimed offenders.
Then, in May this year, Head Constable Mintu Yadav received a tip-off regarding a parole jumper — it was none other than Raj.
'It was found that he had been living on the outskirts of Kanpur. A team went to the city and conducted multiple raids, but he managed to escape due to a local supporter in the area,' DCP (Crime) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav said.
Raj then fled to his son's house in Khoda Colony, Ghaziabad.
The police traced him again. On Saturday, he was finally arrested by the Crime Branch team after a two-month-long operation.