Before his arrest, the former jawan had been lying low with his three sons and wife in Delhi’s Najafgarh area, and worked as a security guard there. (Representational)Absconding for the last 35 years and wanted in two murder cases, a 75-year-old former Army jawan was arrested from a village in Etah on Sunday.
Shripal Singh had been on the run since he jumped parole in 1984, police said.
What brought him under the police radar again was his attempt to extort Rs 2,500 from a shopkeeper during one of his visits to his native village Simrai under Raja Ka Rampur police station limits on Saturday.
The shopkeeper filed a police complaint against Shripal, leading to his arrest near Simrai, said Ram Avtar Singh, station house officer of Raja Ka Rampur police station.
Before his arrest, the former jawan had been lying low with his three sons and wife in Delhi’s Najafgarh area, and worked as a security guard there.
Retired from the Army in 1983, Shripal was arrested for allegedly shooting his neighbour Shyam Pal Singh dead in Simrai on June 13, 1984.
“Sahabh Singh, the father-in-law of Shyam Pal, lodged a police complaint against Shripal and four others. Police arrested all the five accused and sent them to jail. In December, 1984, Shripal got a 15-day parole,” said Ram Avtar Singh.
Shripal jumped parole and killed Sahabh, he said. On the direction of a court, Shripal’s property was attached in 1985.
