PANJIM: After being on the run for nearly eight months, alleged drug peddler Hemraj Bharadwaj was finally arrested by Goa Police’s Crime Branch and Chandigarh Police in his home village in Himachal Pradesh.
“Under close monitoring, a team of Crime Branch worked on the case and from intensive technical surveillance and actionable ground level human intelligence, important leads were developed by the team, which searched for the accused across Goa, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. Finally, upon specific input, the team arrived in Chandigarh where with the logistical assistance of Chandigarh Police, the accused was apprehended by the team from his village Pattidhar in Mandi District of HP,” a press statement issued by CB said.
Bharadwaj lodged in Colvale Jail for an offence for narcotics trade, had escaped on August 25, 2020. The accused is notorious for trafficking large quantities of the drug from HP into Goa.
The CB said the investigation was taken up and several attempts were made to track down the accused.
Upon interrogation, the accused revealed that he had escaped from Colvale Jail after carefully monitoring the routine of disposing garbage from the prison. He remained in hiding across Goa, Maharashtra, MP, Chandigarh and HP. He changed his location frequently to avoid coming under the police scanner.
He thereafter visited his hometown during COVID, but was arrested.
