DHUBRI: A man who had evaded capture for 16 years after allegedly attacking his wife with a knife has been arrested in a forested area of southern Assam.
Noor Mohammad, the accused, was apprehended by a team from the Delhi police crime branch from Assam.
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The officers, posing as NGO volunteers to avoid raising suspicion, successfully executed the arrest.
According to a senior Delhi police officer, the incident occurred on the night of July 17-18, 2008.
Noor Mohammad, who had been separated from his wife, visited her residence in Najafgarh, Delhi, under the guise of resolving their marital disputes.
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During a heated argument, he allegedly became violent and attacked his wife with a sharp-edged “dao,” inflicting severe injuries to her face and head.
Believing he had killed her, he fled the scene, leaving her critically wounded.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Amit Goel disclosed that Noor Mohammad had been a fugitive since the attack and was wanted in an attempted murder case by the Najafgarh police.
The breakthrough came when police received a tip-off that Noor Mohammad was hiding in Assam, specifically in Mankachar, South Salmara, near the Bangladesh border.
A police team was immediately formed and dispatched to the area.
Due to the remote and forested nature of the location, there was a significant risk of the operation being compromised.
To mitigate this, the team disguised themselves as NGO workers assisting local woodcutters and conducted a detailed survey of the area over three days.
Their covert efforts paid off, leading to the identification and arrest of Noor Mohammad.
Upon interrogation, Noor Mohammad revealed that he had come to Delhi in 1997 in search of work and began working with a scrap dealer in the Bhogal area.
He married Muniza in 2000, but their marriage deteriorated, leading to their separation.
Following the attack, Noor Mohammad fled Delhi and chose to hide in Assam, far from his native place, to avoid detection.
The arrest marks the end of a lengthy manhunt, and Noor Mohammad will now face legal proceedings for the attempted murder charge.