Surat: In a breakthrough in a 17-year-old murder-robbery case, the Surat prevention of crime branch (PCB) arrested a 37-year-old man from Ahmedabad, who allegedly spent years moving from state to state to evade capture. The accused had been absconding since 2009, prompting the Bhavnagar district superintendent of police to announce a reward of Rs 10,000 for information leading to his capture.Police identified the accused as Nagendra Saroj, a native of Pratapgarh district in Uttar Pradesh. According to investigators, Saroj, along with his associates Mohammad Irshad and Pradip Sonu, committed a robbery near Dharti Hotel in the Velavadar police station jurisdiction of Bhavnagar district in 2009.The trio allegedly robbed a truck driver of Rs 1.20 lakh and when he resisted, beat him to death with steel rods.After the crime, Saroj frequently changed locations and stayed in different states to avoid arrest. Acting on a tip-off, Surat PCB officials traced him to a transport company premises in the Sanathal area of Ahmedabad, where he had been hiding. A police team conducted a raid and apprehended him.
