Delhi Police arrest absconding mother-in-law, brother-in-law in 2018 dowry death case

Delhi Police arrested a woman and her son, who had been absconding since 2018, in connection with a dowry death case in north Delhi. The duo, declared proclaimed offenders, were apprehended during coordinated raids in Delhi and Haryana after sustained surveillance

New Delhi: Police conducted coordinated raids in Delhi and Haryana in connection with the dowry death of a woman in north Delhi and arrested her mother-in-law and brother-in-law who had been absconding since 2018, officials said Saturday.

They were wanted in a case registered at Swaroop Nagar police station under sections related to murder, dowry death and cruelty. According to the Crime Branch, the case pertains to the death of a woman in January 2018. An FIR was initially registered under Sections 498A (cruelty), 304B (dowry death) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.

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The woman’s family alleged that she did not die by suicide but was strangled to death by her matrimonial family, following which the charge of murder under Section 302 of IPC was added.

Police had earlier arrested the deceased’s husband and father-in-law during the investigation. However, mother-in-law Kanchan (52) and brother-in-law and Jatin (31) allegedly absconded after their anticipatory bail pleas were dismissed and were later declared proclaimed offenders by a court.

Police said the duo kept changing their hideouts over the years to evade arrest despite repeated raids at their known addresses. Kanchan, originally from Keshav Nagar in Delhi’s Ibrahimpur village, had been living in Yamuna Nagar in Haryana, while Jatin had shifted to Madhuban Enclave in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, they said.

“On July 15, a team received specific information about the whereabouts of the accused in Yamuna Nagar district of Haryana. The information was corroborated through technical surveillance and local intelligence,” a senior police officer said.

A special team conducted simultaneous operations in Yamuna Nagar and Delhi’s Okhla area after learning that Jatin had travelled to the national capital for some work.

Kanchan was apprehended from her hideout in Yamuna Nagar, while Jatin was intercepted in Okhla. Both were arrested after verification of their identities and completion of legal formalities, police said.

During interrogation, they allegedly told investigators that they had remained on the run after their anticipatory bail applications were rejected. They claimed they continuously shifted locations, avoided visiting their native residence in Delhi and stayed in hiding for several years to escape arrest.