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 j
ust 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.