Fifteen years after a murder convict and his accomplices escaped from a judicial lock-up, the law caught up with Jackson Dadel in West Bengal. He had changed his identity and his profession too -- at least for official records in his second home State -- as he took a job as a hotel front desk manager.
It was over for Dadel, who was an alias, a cover for Rajeev Kashyap when the sleuths of Goa Crime Branch caught him from his workplace in Digha town this week.
The team led by DySP Suraj Halarnkar kept a close watch on his daily movement, friend circle, new family, and habits for around a month before apprehending him with the assistance of the Digha police. They returned to Goa on Friday and handed the custody of the accused to Margao police, after completing legal formalities.
“Our team proceeded to Digha Town of Purba Medinipur district of West Bengal and apprehended accused Jackson Dadel. He was evading arrest for the last 15 years and was living with a different identity. He had changed his name to Rajeev Kashap and was working as a front office manager for a hotel in Digha,” Superintendent of Police (CB) Nidhin Valsan said.
Valsan said that the convict also changed his date of birth to his date of escape, which is September 16. While it’s not certain if he remained in touch with his family back at his native place in Goa, Dadel married a Jharkhand woman and both are parents of a girl child.
It was on September 16, 2007, when 14 inmates including Dadel and Rudolf Gomes – both charged for house trespass and murder of one Godwin D’Silva - were brought to the jail lobby for prayers being Ganesh Chaturthi. The prisoners however took the opportunity to make good their escape by assaulting three guards.
The murderers’ escape plan was just before the Additional Sessions Court, North was slated to pronounce their sentence.
A jailor and four guards were suspended even as three undertrials Sajjan Khan (Jaipur), Rajnesh Rai (Hubli), and Sameer Khan (Hyderabad) were caught from Sanvordem railway station during a massive hunt launched soon thereafter.
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Gomes was re-arrested in December 2014 seven years after he escaped, and the Additional Sessions Court, North Goa sentenced him to undergo life imprisonment for the murder of the Altinho resident.
Sources told The Goan that Gomes tipped the police about Dadel’s whereabouts after which a team was formed to work on the leads.
Dadel will be produced before the court that will pronounce his sentence for the murder, and will also face separate charges for the escape plan.
