Jajpur/Kendrapada: In a dramatic conclusion to a decades-long pursuit, Odisha police arrested a murder suspect on Friday night from a hidden underground chamber in his village home in Jajpur district.
Rabindra Mallick (58) of Nuahat village under Kuakhia police limits, was wanted for the brutal killing of his 27-year-old cousin, Paramananda Mallick, on October 21, 1994. At the time of the crime, Rabindra was just 26 years old. He allegedly attacked his cousin with an axe, leading to his death.
Declared an absconder by a local court, Mallick evaded capture for over three decades by frequently shifting locations, assuming false identities, and working as a mason in distant places including Hyderabad and Kerala. He even obtained Aadhaar and voter ID cards under a fake name, posing as a resident of Adamapur village, while secretly staying in touch with family members.
During his years on the run, Mallick married Manjulata in 1998.
Police revealed he had constructed a secret underground bunker inside his house in Nuahat village. “Acting on a tip-off, we nabbed him from a hidden underground bunker in his house when he returned to the village to attend a family function,” said Kuakhia police station IIC Susanta Kumar Sethi.
The officer added that the chamber was built deliberately to evade arrest.
Mallick was produced before a local court on Saturday, where his bail application was rejected. He has been remanded to judicial custody.
