A former police constable accused of murdering a Haryana Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) and absconding after securing parole has been arrested nearly 18 years after he disappeared, bringing to an end one of Sirsa district’s longest-running manhunts.
The accused, Sukhbinder Singh alias Sukha, was arrested from the Gidderbaha area of Punjab’s Muktsar Sahib district as part of Sirsa Police’s “Operation Shikanja”, a special campaign against proclaimed offenders and long-absconding fugitives.
Police said the case dates back to 2002, when Sukhbinder, then serving as a constable, allegedly conspired with others to murder ASI Subey Singh, who was working as a Motor Transport Officer in the police department.
According to investigators, the ASI was shot dead and his body was later dumped in a canal in an attempt to destroy evidence. A case was registered at the Sadar police station and all the accused were arrested and sent to jail.
However, Sukhbinder allegedly jumped parole in 2008 and never returned to custody. Since then, he had remained untraceable for nearly 18 years.
Sirsa SP Deepak Saharan said the fugitive continuously changed his identity, appearance and hideouts to evade arrest. Despite numerous failed leads over the years, police teams continued efforts to track him down.
The breakthrough came when a team led by Sadar SHO and trainee IPS officer Shivam Yadav developed fresh intelligence inputs and employed technical surveillance to trace the accused.
