Pradeep Kumar Saxena, convicted of killing his brother in 1989, lived for decades as “Abdul Rahim” after jumping parole.
Saxena changed his name, appearance, and religion to evade the law but was finally caught.
A High Court order to produce him in court triggered a new police search, leading to his arrest.
A 70-year-old man from Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, who had evaded the law for 36 years after being convicted of murdering his brother, has finally been arrested. The Bareilly police announced the arrest in a press note issued on Thursday, 27 November 2025.
Pradeep Kumar Saxena, who had assumed a new identity as Abdul Rahim and lived quietly in Moradabad as a driver, was produced in court following directions from the Allahabad High Court.
Saxena was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1989 for the murder of his brother, Sanjeev, committed in 1987. After his conviction, he was released on parole but never returned to jail, disappearing from public view. According to a police statement, he spent decades building a new life—changing his appearance, growing a beard, and even converting to Islam in 2002 to avoid detection.
The breakthrough came after the Allahabad High Court, while hearing Saxena’s long-pending criminal appeal, ordered on October 16, 2025, that he be located and produced before the Bareilly court within four weeks. Acting on these directions, the Bareilly police formed a special team to track him down.
Investigations revealed that Saxena had been living in Moradabad’s Karula area for years, working as a driver under the name Abdul Rahim. He had married a Muslim woman and kept a low profile, believing that his past crimes had been forgotten. Police learned from his family that he had occasionally returned to Bareilly, assuming the authorities were no longer looking for him.
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A tip-off finally led police to Delapeer Mandi in Bareilly, where Saxena was confronted. He initially identified himself as Abdul Rahim, but after being presented with old documents and evidence, he admitted his true identity. “I came out on parole in 1989, after which I started living in Moradabad. To avoid court proceedings, I changed my religion in 2002 and changed my name to Abdul Rahim, also known as Saxena Driver,” the police quoted him as saying.
Bareilly City Police Chief Manush Parikh confirmed the details, adding that Saxena had also been convicted of theft in the 1987 case. “Pradeep Saxena appealed the sentence in the high court and then jumped parole. When the court directed us to arrest him, we discovered he had concealed his identity and changed his religion to escape the law,” he said.
By adopting a new identity, relocating, and integrating into another community, Saxena believed he could escape accountability—but the law ultimately caught up with him. [Rh]
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