The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday arrested the absconding accused of the Garhwa Fort incident after 24 years. CBI has arrested the absconding accused, Ramnarayan alias Haider from village Naseerpur, police station Khakheru, district Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh. The case is in connection with a 2002 case involving robbery, murder and theft of an old idol from the Garhwa Fort, an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) protected site in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh.
CBI This case was registered after taking it over from Police Station Shankargarh, District Allahabad (now Prayagraj) on September 9, 2003. Where it was originally registered as crime number 43/2002 under sections 396 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code.
It is alleged that on the night of 21/22 April 2002, a gang of 11 people led by accused Vijay Kumar Shukla committed robbery in the secure Garhwa Fort.
The watchman was murdered
During the incident, the gang allegedly killed watchman Vinod Kumar Srivastava by attacking and gagged him, overpowered another watchman, broke the lock of the store room, and stole a precious stone idol of Lord Buddha, which broke into two pieces during removal.
Investigation revealed that the pieces of the stolen idols were allegedly transported in a vehicle and sold by accused Vijay Kumar Shukla to two people for Rs 2.20 lakh. Later the idol was shifted to a warehouse in Mahipalpur, Delhi and allegedly exported abroad.
After investigation, the CBI filed a charge sheet on December 22, 2005 against ten accused, including four accused who were absconding, i.e. Vijay Kumar Shukla, Ravi Karan, Suraj Bhan and Ramnarayan alias Haider.
CBI caught the absconding accused
To nab the absconding accused, the CBI formed special teams, which generated local intelligence, traced sources and conducted continuous surveillance and follow-up operations.
As a result of these sustained efforts, absconding accused Suraj Bhan and Ravi Karan were arrested one after the other on May 22, 2026 and June 02, 2026, while absconding accused Vijay Kumar Shukla was traced to the District Jail, Chitrakoot in connection with another case of Uttar Pradesh Police.
Necessary steps have been taken to confirm his appearance in this case before the competent court in Lucknow on June 16, 2026. With the arrest of Ramnarayan alias Haider, all the absconding accused in this case have now been traced. Now they will be prosecuted as per law.
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