Kanpur: Thirty-nine years after allegedly kidnapping and selling three minor girls and then disappearing while out on bail from the high court, a 72-year-old man was arrested in Kanpur on Thursday. Police said the breakthrough came after investigators revived the 1984 case, tracked the accused through an old voter ID record and arrested him days before a status report was to be submitted to the HC.Juhi police station SHO K K Patel said that in 1984, the accused, Pradeep Kumar, had allegedly abducted two 13-year-old girls and one 14-year-old girl and sold them. Based on the FIR, he was arrested, and the girls were recovered, following which he was sent to jail. Kumar’s wife, Phaguni alias Rajkumari, was also an accused in the case, but she died in 2024. One of the three victims has also died.The accused was convicted by a lower court after a chargesheet was filed following completion of the investigation. He filed an appeal in the HC in 1987 and was subsequently granted bail. After the bail tenure expired, he absconded.Kumar repeatedly changed his appearance, sometimes sporting long hair and a beard, and at other times shaving his head to avoid being identified.Sources said the HC took a strict stand about two months ago and sought a reply from the police commissioner, with the reply scheduled to be filed on Aug 7. Following this, Juhi police in the South Zone, led by SHO K K Patel, re-examined old records and intensified the search for Kumar.During the investigation, police said they got a crucial lead from an old voter ID card. They uploaded the details to the website, extracted the accused’s EPIC number and shared it with the booth level officer (BLO). The inquiry revealed that the voter ID linked to the EPIC number had been updated with an address in Ambedkar Basti under the Kidwainagar police station area.Police said the team then activated its informer network, kept surveillance on the accused’s movements and arrested Pradeep Kumar from Ambedkar Basti on Thursday.Police said the accused was originally from Lucknow and had been changing hideouts. In the case, Kumar’s wife, Phaguni alias Rajkumari, was also made an accused. DCP South Deependra Nath Chaudhary said Kumar was produced before a court and sent to jail.
