Ex-Army man jumping parole arrested after 20 years for wife's murder

New Delhi: A former Army personnel, who had been evading capture for over 20 years after jumping parole while serving a life sentence for murdering his wife, has been apprehended in his native village in Madhya Pradesh, according to Delhi Police officials.

While evading arrest for more than two decades, he remarried and fathered four children.

Anil Kumar Tiwari, a 58-year-old native of Sidhi, Madhya Pradesh, was convicted in 1989 for murdering his wife by strangling her and setting her on fire. He attempted to disguise the crime as a suicide but was sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2005, he was granted a two-week parole by the Delhi High Court, during which he absconded. After evading capture for over 20 years, the Delhi Police's Crime Branch apprehended him in his native village on April 12.

According to police, Tiwari, who worked in the Indian Army's Ordnance Corps as a driver, had been evading arrest by avoiding mobile phones, dealing only in cash and frequently changing his residence and job.

"In November 2005, Tiwari was granted an interim suspension of sentence for two weeks, during which he absconded. The Crime Branch formed a special team to trace him. Inputs suggested his presence in Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh and later near his village in Sidhi, Madhya Pradesh. The team conducted ground-level verification and finally apprehended him," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Aditya Gautam said.

During questioning, Anil Kumar Tiwari disclosed that he had been frequently relocating, working as a driver in different cities, and deliberately avoiding creating any digital or financial records to evade detection. He also confessed to remarrying and having four children from his second marriage, police added.

(inputs from PTI)