Bhandup Police Arrest 61-Year-Old Murder Accused Absconding for 29 Years

The Bhandup police on August 18, 2026, arrested a 61-year-old man who had been absconding for 29 years after being accused in three cases of murder, attempt to murder, and dacoity registered between 1989 and 1991, police officials said on Tuesday.

The accused, identified as Ravindra alias Pamplet Eknath Vichare, was apprehended from Ashutosh Lodge in Karmala in Solapur district after investigators received information that he was living under a changed name and address.

Vichare had been on the run since 1997 and was declared an absconder by a Sessions Court in Mumbai. Non-bailable standing warrants had been issued against him across all three registered cases.

The cases against him include a 1990 murder case registered under Sections 302, 147, 148, 149, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code; a 1991 attempt-to-murder case registered under Sections 307 and 34; and a 1989 case under Sections 397 and 114 relating to robbery or dacoity involving the use of a deadly weapon.

Assistant Police Inspector Dipak Dalvi, who was transferred to the Bhandup police station a month and a half ago, took up the investigation without initial information available due to the long period Vichare had been missing. During the probe, Dalvi discovered that Vichare's son was living in the Bhandup area.

Police located the son and obtained Vichare's contact number from him. After tracking the SIM card, investigators established that the accused was residing in Karmala, Solapur.

A police team led by API Dalvi went to Solapur and found Vichare working as a cook at Ashutosh Lodge in Karmala, where he was taken into custody. Police said that during questioning, Vichare confessed to committing the murders.

Following the arrest, Vichare was produced before the Sessions Court in connection with the 1990 murder case and remanded to judicial custody.