Murder convict who jumped parole held after 14 years

A convict in a murder case, who has been on run since he jumped parole in 2005, has been arrested from Thane district of Maharashtra, police said Tuesday.

Interestingly, the convict, identified as Eknath Mukne was found to be hiding in the village of his in-laws in the same district.

Mukne was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1999 by the district court for hacking his uncle to death in 1997 over a property dispute, said Nitin Thakre, senior police inspector, Crime Unit I.

Mukne had been lodged at the Yeravada central prison in Pune, before he was granted parole for 15 days in 2005.

Parole is the conditional release of prisoners before they complete their sentence.

As he failed to return, a case was registered against Mukne at Padgha police station under section 224 (Resistance or obstruction by a person to his lawful apprehension) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Thakre said officials of crime unit got a tip off that Mukne, now 41, was hiding in Khadavli in Kalyan taluka.

He was arrested on Sunday and handed to Padgha police, he said.