More than three decades after a gruesome murder in Ahmedabad shocked Gujarat, the city’s Crime Branch has tracked down and arrested a death-row convict who had vanished after jumping parole 13 years ago.
The accused, Satish Himmatlal Rupa Relia alias Bhikhu alias Sanjay Thakkar, was convicted in the sensational 1994 Neelam Hotel murder case in which a textile trader was brutally killed, decapitated and robbed in a crime that stunned investigators for its sheer brutality.
According to police records, Relia had been sentenced to death by the Ahmedabad Sessions Court in April 2000 in Sessions Case No. 56/1995 for offences including murder, robbery and criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Bombay Police Act.
Murder Planned Under Guise of Business Deal
The horrifying crime dates back to October 22, 1994, when the victim — a textile merchant identified as Arvind Shah — was allegedly lured to Neelam Hotel in Ahmedabad on the pretext of a lucrative discounted cloth transaction. He was asked to carry Rs 10,000 in cash.
Investigators later found that the meeting was a carefully laid trap.
Once inside the hotel, Shah was allegedly robbed of cash and gold jewellery before being murdered. To eliminate any possibility of identification and complicate the investigation, the accused allegedly chopped off Shah’s head after the killing.
In one of the most disturbing details of the case, police said the severed head was carried away in a bag and transported as far as Adalaj in an attempt to destroy evidence and mislead investigators.
The brutality of the crime had sent shockwaves across Gujarat at the time and became one of Ahmedabad’s most talked-about criminal cases of the 1990s.
Death Sentence and Escape After Parole
Following a detailed investigation and trial, the Ahmedabad court sentenced Relia to death by hanging in 2000.
However, while serving his sentence, he was granted temporary parole in 2013. Instead of returning to custody, he disappeared and remained absconding for over a decade.
Police sources said the fugitive constantly changed locations, identities and aliases to evade capture. He reportedly blended into civilian populations across different regions while carefully avoiding detection by law enforcement agencies.
13-Year Hunt Ends
The Ahmedabad Crime Branch recently reopened intensive tracking efforts and deployed a specialised surveillance and intelligence team to trace the convict.
Using technical intelligence, human informants and sustained field operations, officers finally located the fugitive’s hideout and arrested him in a targeted operation carried out without resistance.
Officials described the arrest as a major breakthrough, ending a 13-year manhunt involving one of Gujarat’s most notorious death-row absconders.
The accused has now been remanded back into judicial custody and will face further legal proceedings linked to his parole violation and pending execution of sentence.
This Neelam Hotel murder case continues to be remembered among Gujarat’s most gruesome crimes because of the calculated manner of execution and the shocking attempt to conceal the victim’s identity through decapitation.
Crime Branch officials said the arrest demonstrates that even long-absconding convicts cannot permanently escape the law, regardless of how many identities or hideouts they adopt over the years.
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