Nearly 40 years after he was convicted in a robbery and attempt-to-murder case and disappeared after getting bail, Ram Prakash was finally arrested from a forested area of Bareilly, where he had been living as ‘Pagaldas’, a self-styled holy man. He had set up an ashram and built a following across nearby villages, but a social media reel showing him with his followers eventually helped police trace him.
Further inquiries revealed that he had built a small ashram about three kilometres from the village, in a forested area, and had been living there for years. He later got bail from the Allahabad high court but never returned to face the proceedings. Prakash, then a resident of Kakadeo, , Kanpur, was arrested. Two other cases were also registered against him at the same police station. For years, police had little to go on. The part of Kakadeo where Prakash once lived has since become a township, while people who knew him at the time could not provide any useful lead. About five to six months ago, the high court took a strict view of the long-pending matter, following which police intensified efforts to trace him. During the search, police met an elderly man from the locality who knew Prakash. A police team then spent nearly two months in Gursahaiganj trying to establish his whereabouts. Investigators also gathered details of his relatives and obtained their mobile numbers. Following these leads, they came across a social media reel featuring Prakash, who by then was known as ‘Pagaldas’ and had built a following around himself. The trail led police to Gajnera village in Bareilly. He was brought to Kanpur and produced before a court.
Prakash, now around 70, was sentenced to 10 years in prison by a sessions court in 1986. The case dates back to 1984, when Ashok Saini lodged an FIR at Fazalganj police station, accusing Prakash of robbing him of ₹ 40,000 and attempting to kill his son.
Police said the address and details of the sureties he had furnished at the time were also fake. He told investigators that Prakash was originally from Gursahaiganj in Kannauj and that he had once met him in Lucknow. A police team finally surrounded the ashram on Sunday night and arrested him.
