Mumbai Cops Weed Out Elusive 'Absconder' After 30 Years
By Manu Shrivastava
A remarkable tale unfolds as the hands of time unfurl, revealing a thirty-year pursuit in the relentless quest to bring a fugitive to justice. This elusive figure, as the Mumbai Police sources maintain, Dashrath Ramprasad Rajbhar, had long managed to evade capture, his freedom a haunting reminder of the bloodshed that stained the communal riots of January 1993, leaving a staggering toll of over 900 lives extinguished.
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| Wadala police personnel with accused Dashrath Rajbhar (seated) |
With unwavering determination, the police officials seized their final opportunity to ensnare the absconder, charged with attempted murder during the harrowing days of communal unrest. In an act both audacious and cunning, they dispatched a money order of ₹500 to one of the accused's known addresses, located in a bustling locality of Kalyan. Astonishingly, Rajbhar, now 65, fell for it and responded, affixing his signature to the acknowledgement, unknowingly setting in motion the fateful events that led to his long-awaited arrest on a sombre Friday, July 7, 2023.
The records revealed that back in 1993, the Wadala police had diligently registered a case against Rajbhar and his cohorts. The litany of charges ranged from attempt to murder and participation in unlawful assembly wielding deadly weapons and rioting. Numerous other individuals were booked as members of unlawful assembly for prosecuting common objects and mischief causing damage to property — offences encapsulated within the folds of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The heinous saga had been ignited by the infamous demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992, in the sacred city of Ayodhya.
Mumbai Deputy Commissioner of Police for the Port Zone Sanjay Latkar elaborated upon the events that had transpired over the years. He maintained, in the year of the riots, several accused, including Rajbhar, were apprehended by the efforts of Mumbai Police officers. However, after securing bail, he slipped through the clutches of justice, evaded court proceedings and vanished from the city. In response, the Sessions Court issued numerous warrants for his arrest — both bailable and non-bailable — but remained futile endeavours. The court was left with no choice but to declare him an absconder.
The tireless men and women in uniform devoted themselves to a ceaseless search, doggedly combing for Rajbhar across the labyrinthine streets of the city. Their collective toil, though noble in intent, proved fruitless, as the fugitive managed to stay one step ahead of the law.
"For a brief period, he took refuge in the heartland of Uttar Pradesh. Yet, fate eventually led him back to Mumbai. He took shelter in Thane for a while before ultimately settling in Kalyan. Our pursuit was plagued by the absence of his photograph and feeds from our sources even suggested his untimely demise. Nevertheless, lacking any concrete evidence of his death, we resolved to investigate further, dispatching our teams to his native place of Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh on multiple occasions," shared Milind Jadhav, Senior Police Inspector of Wadala Police Station.
Evaluating every thread of certainty, the officers revisited the foundations of Rajbhar's bail, meticulously examining each document and scrutinising the surety of his bail, added Mr Jadhav.
It was during this painstaking process that a breakthrough finally emerged. Through careful interrogation of the surety, the police teams gleaned a single address, in Kalyan, that held promise. Undeterred, they seized the opportunity and embarked on a course of action that would forever alter Rajbhar's fate.
"We dispatched a money order of ₹500 to his name, destined for the designated address. The unexpected came to pass — a response arrived, bearing the unmistakable mark of Rajbhar's signature. It was an unequivocal confirmation that the accused, long absconding, was indeed alive and residing at the designated spot."
The police teams wasted no time, swiftly converging upon the location to apprehend their elusive target, bringing him into their custody without a moment's delay, signalling the end of his prolonged evasion.
Victorious in their arduous pursuit, the officers promptly presented Rajbhar before the Sessions Court on July 7, 2023, where he was remanded to judicial custody. The wheels of justice had finally turned, but the echoes of the 1993 riots and the tragic events that followed still reverberated through the corridors of history.
The case that found its origins within the records of the Wadala Police Station was but a fragment of the larger mosaic of riotous chaos that had gripped the nation, etching an indelible mark upon its history.
Interestingly, a Sessions Court recently gave "the benefit of the doubt" to a co-accused, Shivpujan Rajbhar, booked for rioting during the 1993 Bombay riots in Wadala area under IPC Sections for attempt to murder, unlawful assembly and other related offences, and acquitted him.
The Court had said, Shivpujan who absconded after his initial arrest and held again, could have been an “innocent bystander” and the prosecution had "failed to prove its charges."
“There is no independent witness to identify the accused,” said Additional Sessions Judge AA Kulkarni, while acknowledging that after such a long delay witnesses cannot be found to identify the accused. The court also said as the mob, gathered at Deenbandhu Nagar on January 12, 1993, comprised 300 to 400 people, it is difficult to ascertain who actively participated in vandalism.
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| Representational Image |
The demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992 catalysed a nationwide chain of events, triggering communal riots that tore through the fabric of society. Yet nowhere was the tremor felt more acutely than in the bustling city of Mumbai. Within its boundaries, a tempest of violence unfolded, claiming the lives of over 900 innocent people, while countless others bore the scars of both physical and emotional wounds. The darkness deepened as the communal riots spanned two distinct phases, through December 1992 and again in January 1993.
Tragically, the harrowing saga did not end there. March 11, 1993, witnessed the vengeance of the fugitive gangster, Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, as he orchestrated a series of devastating bomb blasts that reverberated throughout the metropolis. These horrific acts, allegedly enacted in retaliation for the Babri Masjid demolition and the Muslim lives lost during the communal riots, claimed the lives of 257 individuals and grievously wounded around 1,400 others.
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