Surat: He had been evading arrest for over two decades. But 71-year-old Ganpat Salecha never thought that attending a marriage would land him in police custody. Salecha was nabbed by the cops from a resort near the city on Monday during a wedding ceremony.
The septuagenarian was surprised to see the cops and initially even refused to accept that he was Salecha. The police said that he was booked in a cheating case worth Rs 1.39 lakh registered at Athwalines police station in 1998 and had been on the run since then. Salecha had made payment to purchase textile products using forged demand drafts. Apart from Salecha, who was the key accused, six others were also booked in the cheating case. Three of the accused were arrested in the past.
The DCP zone 3 squad led by PSI K D Rawal got information about Salecha’s whereabouts and nabbed him from Vedic Resort. “We got a tip-off that Salecha was at the resort to attend the wedding of a relative. We first verified his identity and confirmed his presence at the resort before arresting him,” said a police officer.
The cops took help of a man who knew Salecha to identify him as his appearance had changed over years. The police said that while on the run, Salecha kept changing his residence and business offices frequently to hide his identity. “He is one of the accused in a cheating case with a bank in Ahmedabad and also has been booked in two cheating offences in Jaipur,” the police said. After leaving the city, he tried his hand at different businesses including textile, readymade garments and wood.