Accused in CET student murder case arrested over two decades later

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a proclaimed offender, Durga Bahadur Bhat Chetri, aka Deepak, who was absconding in a case involving the abduction and murder of Shyamal Mandal, a BTech student of the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, in 2005.

The CBI had re-registered the case on December 31, 2008, and taken up the investigation in compliance with an order of the High Court of Kerala transferring the investigation to it.

The case relates to the disappearance of Shyamal Mandal in October 2005 followed by a ransom call to his father. A few days later, Shyamal’s body was found near Vellar in Thiruvananthapuram.

The CBI investigation revealed that the murder was committed by Durga Bahadur, with co-accused Mohammed Ali.

After investigation, the CBI filed a chargesheet against both the accused. However, since Durga Bahadur had been absconding since 2005, the trial court declared him a proclaimed offender. The trial against Mohammed Ali was completed and he was convicted in 2022.

Efforts continued to trace Durga Bahadur. On receiving intelligence inputs, the CBI team traced Durga Bahadur to Nagpur and arrested him on Friday (March 27).

It was revealed that Durga Bahadur was living under the fake identity of Suraj B. Bhatt, son of Balbahadur Rambahadur Bhatt. He had got married and settled down in Nagpur.

Durga Bahadur will be produced before the jurisdictional court in Ernakulam for judicial custody.