Lucknow: The CBI has arrested the last absconding accused in the 2002 Garhwa Fort idol theft-cum-murder case, bringing all four fugitives named in the chargesheet to justice over two decades after the crime.Accused Ramnarayan alias Hyder was arrested on July 4 from Naseerpur village under Khakheru police station in Fatehpur. He was wanted in connection with the case involving dacoity, murder and the theft of an ancient stone idol from the ASI protected Garhwa Fort in Prayagraj.The case was taken over by the CBI on Sep 9, 2003, from Shankargarh police where it had originally been registered as crime No. 43/2002 under sections 396 (dacoity with murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) of IPC.On the intervening night of April 21-22, 2002, a gang of 11, led by Vijay Kumar Shukla, raided the Garhwa Fort. During the dacoity, the gang gagged watchman Vinod Kumar Srivastava to death, overpowered another watchman, broke open the storeroom and stole an ancient stone idol of Lord Buddha, which reportedly broke into two while being removed. The idol fragments were sold by the prime accused to two persons for Rs 2.20 lakh. The idol was later shifted to a godown in Mahipalpur, Delhi, and was sent abroad.The CBI filed a chargesheet on Dec 22, 2005, against ten accused, including four who had remained absconding—Vijay Kumar Shukla, Ravi Karan, Suraj Bhan and Ramnarayan alias Hyder.The CBI constituted teams to trace the fugitives. . Their efforts led to the arrest of Suraj Bhan on May 22 and Ravi Karan on June 2. The CBI traced Vijay Kumar Shukla lodged in district jail, Chitrakoot in connection with another case and initiated proceedings before the competent court in Lucknow on June 16, 2026, to secure his production in the present case.
