In a major breakthrough, the Azad Maidan police have arrested a notorious gangster who had been absconding for the past 37 years. The accused, wanted in serious crimes including an attempt to murder and possession of illegal firearms, was finally nabbed by the police despite his efforts to evade arrest by hiding in a remote, hilly area with no mobile network coverage.
The arrested accused has been identified as Mangesh Govind More alias Mangesh Manjrekar, a former resident of the Shastrinagar area in Dombivli. According to senior police officials, Manjrekar was on the run since 1988 after an attempt to murder case was registered against him at the Azad Maidan police station in South Mumbai. Since then, he had successfully managed to dodge the police for decades.
Despite having no concrete leads, the police only knew that the accused hailed from Ranwad village in Mahad taluka of Raigad district. Working on this single piece of information, the police began closely monitoring movements linked to his native village. However, Manjrekar never visited the place, making it even more challenging for the authorities to trace him.
After relentless efforts, the police received specific intelligence that the accused was residing at Nanemachi, a small village near Vaki Budruk, located about 15 km from his native village. The area, surrounded by rugged hills and lacking proper road access and mobile network connectivity, made the search even tougher for the police.
Undeterred by the odds, a dedicated team from the Azad Maidan police's ‘Tadipar’ (externment) cell managed to reach the remote village and arrested Manjrekar. Officials confirmed that a non-bailable warrant had been issued against him in the 1988 attempt to murder case, and he was also wanted in several other criminal cases.
The arrest has brought relief to the police department, which had been pursuing him for nearly four decades.