Ex-Armyman convicted of murder caught after 20 years on the run

In May 1989, Anil Kumar Tiwari, then a driver in the Indian Army, strangled his wife to death and attempted to cover up the crime by dousing her body in fuel and setting it ablaze. He tried to pass it off as a suicide, but forensic evidence revealed a more sinister truth. Convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment, Tiwari was granted a two-week parole by the Delhi High Court in November 2005. However, he failed to return, embarking on nearly two decades as a fugitive.

Recently, a Crime Branch team from Delhi tracked Tiwari to his hometown of Sidhi in Madhya Pradesh, where the 58-year-old figitive was arrested on April 12 after an exhaustive manhunt. During his time on the run, Tiwari lived cautiously, working as a driver in multiple cities, frequently changing his identity and location, and avoiding digital trails. He remarried and had four children with his second wife, living quietly while evading law enforcement.

According to DCP Aditya Gautam of Crime Branch, Tiwari was extremely cautious, ensuring there was no paper trail to trace him. The investigation into his original crime began at the Delhi Cantt police station under Section 302 of the IPC, and Tiwari was initially arrested in May 1989. Leads suggested he was in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, before he was finally tracked down in Sidhi.