Gujarat police apprehended a 54-year-old man on Saturday who was wanted in an honour killing case and had been on the run for three decades. In 1989, Bhamrajsinh Laghuji Solanki is accused of murdering his brother-in-law and three minor nephews.
He was apprehended based on information gathered over the last few years. PSI Y K Zala, who is currently assigned to the CID Crime, discovered police and court records indicating that Solanki, a resident of Kamboi village in Kankrej taluka in Banaskantha, was absconding in a three-decade-old murder case involving four people.
“It was allegedly a case of honour killing as Solanki’s sister, a widow, had married a man from another caste and had three children with him. Ten years after the marriage, seven accused in the case allegedly kidnapped the husband and three children, murdered them, burned their bodies and buried them on the banks of a river in Mehsana,” said Zala
All seven were booked and arrested at Santhal police station in 1989 under IPC sections 302, 364, 365, and 395 in 1989. On March 6, 1990, Solanki managed to escape from the Mehsana sub-jail. After Solanki’s escape, Mehsana city police opened an investigation, but he was not apprehended until December 10, 2022.
According to Zala, Solanki had hidden in various locations after his escape before returning to his own home some years ago. The brutal murders had faded from public and police memory by that point.
Meanwhile, the other six defendants were released due to a lack of evidence, and two of them died. During the trial of the other six accused, police officials were able to obtain court records pertaining to Solanki’s absconding status.