In a stunning conclusion to a 36-year manhunt, the Bareilly police have arrested a 70-year-old murder convict who had meticulously crafted a new life and identity to evade capture. Pradeep Kumar Saxena, convicted for the 1987 murder of his brother, was finally apprehended, bringing an end to one of Uttar Pradesh's longest fugitive chases.
The Elusive Fugitive's New Life
Pradeep Kumar Saxena's life on the run came to a dramatic end on Thursday, November 28, 2025, when police located him in Bareilly. Investigations revealed that after being released on parole in 1989, he never returned to jail. To disappear completely, he executed an elaborate plan that included religious conversion and a physical transformation.
Officials confirmed that Saxena had converted to Islam in 2002, adopting the name Abdul Raheem. He grew a long beard to alter his appearance and settled in Islamnagar within the Moradabad district, approximately 100 kilometers from his hometown of Bareilly. For decades, he worked discreetly as a private driver in Transport Nagar, earning the local nickname 'Saxena Driver'.
The Police Investigation That Led to Capture
The breakthrough came after persistent efforts by the Prem Nagar police station team. Station House Officer Prayagraj Singh detailed the case's history: "Pradeep was booked for murder in 1987. In 1989, the trial court convicted him and sentenced him to life imprisonment. He obtained parole around the same period and was released from jail, but then failed to surrender."
Following his repeated non-appearance, the Allahabad High Court directed the Bareilly court to issue a non-bailable warrant against him. The police's investigation led them first to Saxena's parental house in Kasva, Bareilly, where they learned he had moved out nearly three decades earlier. They then traced his brother, Suresh Babu, in Bareilly's Sahukara area, who provided the crucial information about Pradeep's conversion and relocation to Moradabad's Karula area.
Acting on this lead, police traveled to Karula where locals confirmed a man known as 'Saxena Driver' had been living there for nearly 30 years. When police learned he had traveled to Bareilly, they intensified their search in the city. An informant's tip eventually led them to a suspicious man at Delapeer Mandi.
The Final Confrontation and Admission
The arrest operation reached its climax at Delapeer Mandi, where police confronted the man identifying himself as Abdul Raheem. Initially, he vehemently denied his true identity, maintaining his cover story. However, when officers presented him with documentary evidence and facts linking him to the decades-old case, his resistance crumbled.
"He initially refused to acknowledge his real identity, but after officers confronted him with documents and evidence linking him to the case, he eventually admitted who he was," revealed a police officer involved in the operation. The fugitive confessed that after his 1989 parole release, he had shifted to Moradabad and later converted to Islam specifically to evade court proceedings.
The court has since sent Saxena to judicial custody, with the next hearing in the matter scheduled for December 18. His capture closes a chapter on one of the most prolonged fugitive hunts in Uttar Pradesh's recent history, demonstrating that even the most carefully constructed alternate lives can eventually unravel.
