LUCKNOW: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested the last absconding accused in the 2002 Garhwa Fort idol theft and murder case, bringing all four fugitives named in the chargesheet within the reach of law more than two decades after the crime.The accused, Ramnarayan alias Hyder, was arrested on July 4, 2026, from Village Naseerpur under Khakheru Police Station in Fatehpur district, Uttar Pradesh.He was wanted in connection with a case involving dacoity, murder and the theft of an ancient stone idol from the protected Garhwa Fort, an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)-protected monument in Prayagraj.The case was taken over by the CBI on September 9, 2003, from Shankargarh Police Station in the then Allahabad district (now Prayagraj), where it had originally been registered as Crime No. 43/2002 under Sections 396 (dacoity with murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code.According to the CBI, on the intervening night of April 21-22, 2002, a gang of 11 persons allegedly led by Vijay Kumar Shukla raided the historic Garhwa Fort.During the dacoity, the gang allegedly assaulted and gagged watchman Vinod Kumar Srivastava to death, overpowered another watchman, broke open the storeroom and stole a valuable ancient stone idol of Lord Buddha, which reportedly broke into two pieces while being removed.The investigation revealed that the idol fragments were allegedly transported in a vehicle and 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 allegedly exported abroad.After completing its investigation, the CBI filed a chargesheet on December 22, 2005, against ten accused persons, including four who had remained absconding, Vijay Kumar Shukla, Ravi Karan, Suraj Bhan and Ramnarayan alias Hyder.The agency said it constituted dedicated teams to trace the fugitives by developing local intelligence, cultivating human sources and conducting sustained surveillance operations.These efforts led to the arrest of Suraj Bhan on May 22, 2026, and Ravi Karan on June 2, 2026.The CBI also traced Vijay Kumar Shukla lodged in District Jail, Chitrakoot, in connection with another Uttar Pradesh Police case, and initiated proceedings before the competent court in Lucknow on June 16, 2026, to secure his production in the present case.With the arrest of Ramnarayan alias Hyder, the CBI said all absconding accused in the case have now been traced and will face trial in accordance with law.
