PNS/DEHRADUN
The Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) arrested a murder accused Jarnail Singh from Rajasthan, using facial recognition software, who had escaped from Sitarganj Central Jail in Udham Singh Nagar district in 2023. He was serving a life sentence for his involvement in the killing of Makhan Singh in Nanakmatta on August 14, 1995, the STF senior superintendent of police Navneet Singh Bhullar said. He informed that STF’s Kumaon unit along with the Udham Singh Nagar police arrested Singh on February 7 from Phalodi district in Rajasthan. He was a fugitive with a reward of Rs 50,000 on his arrest.
Singh, a resident of Bichai village in Nanakmatta, had escaped from Sitarganj jail on August 27, 2023. Bhullar stated that the STF team analysed technical and physical evidence to trace the fugitive. After verifying the information, the team carried out his arrest in Rajasthan on Friday. He informed that Singh had been convicted for the murder of Makhan Singh in 1995. The case was registered at Nanakmatta police station by the victim’s father Charan Singh. The accused was sentenced to life imprisonment and had been serving his sentence in Sitarganj jail until he escaped in 2023.
Following his escape, a fresh case was registered against him, and his bounty was increased from Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000. The SSP said that the police reanalysed technical and physical records related to Singh and his fingerprints, voice samples and other documents were examined. The team was sent to Punjab and Rajasthan for verification. A suspect was identified with an Aadhaar card under the name Satpal Singh, son of Gurcharan Singh, a resident of Border 24, Dabli Rathan, Hanumangarh, Rajasthan. Facial recognition software confirmed his identity. Once verified, the accused was arrested on Friday and brought back to Uttarakhand on transit remand, the SSP said.
He stated that Singh revealed during interrogation that after escaping from jail, he first went to Punjab, where his family lives in Fazilka. He then moved to Dechu in Jodhpur and started working as a labourer while staying with a man named Sampat. He also obtained a fake Aadhaar card under the name Satpal Singh. The arrested fugitive will now face legal proceedings, the SSP added.
