Man held 20 years after killing bizman, kept changing identity

MUMBAI: Twenty years after a businessman was found murdered at a hotel in Vile Parle West, a police team that kept doggedly pursuing the accused across states finally managed to nab him from Thane.
Rupesh Rai (43) took up a different identity and kept changing his location, and working multiple jobs from a tourist guide to a quarry worker.
The case dates back to April 2003. The victim, Deepak Rathod (23) was a cloth trader from New Delhi. He was visiting Mumbai to purchase cloth material for his business and had brought along Rai who was his acquaintance. The two had checked into Hotel Nest at Vile Parle on March 31. On April 3, a hotel staffer found Rathod's body on his bed. He had been stabbed and was bleeding profusely. There was no trace of Rai. The Santacruz police registered a murder case.
The police said Rai stole Rs 1.3 lakh that Rathod was carrying and fled to his hometown in Bihar. From there, he kept moving to various locations such as Pune, Bhayander, Goa, Ranchi, Gujarat and Thane. He changed his name to Atul Kedia and in 2016, he applied for an Aadhaar card from Ranchi under this name. He worked on the beach in Goa, at a quarry in Ranchi, as a bus conductor in Mumbai, and eventually at a sweets shop in Thane from where he was held. The police said he had applied for a passport and could have had plans to eventually leave the country.
"Over the years, the officers from the Santacruz police station made no less than 15 to 16 trips to Rai's hometown in Bihar, which is located in a remote village and has frequent power cuts. They spoke to his friends, relatives and family. Even when the officers got transferred, they passed the information to their peers," said joint commissioner Satyanarayan.
Rai, who is unmarried, kept in touch with a few close family members on and off. Last month, a Santacruz police team camped in Bihar for a fortnight where they received confirmed information that Rai was employed at a sweets shop in Thane.
Rai told the police that Rathod had taught him to drive in Delhi and he was keen to start his own motor driving school. But Rathod insisted they go to Mumbai, purchase cloth and bring it to Delhi for sale so as to expand his business. This had sparked a fight between the two while they were having a meal at the hotel. Rai had stabbed Rathod with a butter knife and fork.
Rai has a previous criminal record in Delhi, where he is booked under Arms Act.