A 58-year-old history-sheeter from Hardoi, wanted in a 1993 robbery case, was arrested in Jhansi late on Saturday night after allegedly spending years on the run by posing as a godman and attracting devotees from India and abroad.
Circle officer Mauranipur Ratneshwar Singh said police launched a search after receiving information about Shukla’s whereabouts. Pradeep Shukla, also known as Kali Sarkar and Natroz, was arrested in a joint operation by Hardoi and Jhansi police from Kurencha village under Mauranipur police station limits. He had allegedly assumed a new identity and established himself as a spiritual leader to evade arrest. The joint team raided his hideout and arrested him. Hardoi police subsequently took him into custody after obtaining a transit remand.
Apart from the 1993 robbery case, he was also wanted in an assault case.
Shukla is a native of Chauhan Thok in Hardoi’s Kotwali area, where he was listed as a history-sheeter with several criminal cases against him, according to police.
Warrants had been issued against him after he repeatedly failed to appear before the court.
