For more than three decades, a murder convict from Bareilly lived quietly in Moradabad under a different name, believing he had buried his past forever. But a recent directive from the Allahabad High Court reopened a case many assumed was long forgotten leading police straight to 35-year fugitive Pradeep Saxena, who had rebuilt his life as “Abdul Rahim.”

Police officials said the breakthrough came only after the High Court, on October 16, demanded that the missing convict be produced within four weeks. This pushed Bareilly police back into old files from the late 1980s, where the trail began with the killing of Saxena’s brother in 1987. He was convicted in 1989 for murder and theft but never returned to prison after being released on parole that same year.

Police Learn Murder Convict Changed Identity

When officers contacted his brother Suresh in Bareilly, they learned that Saxena had not only changed his identity but had converted to another religion years earlier. Investigators then discovered he had been visiting Bareilly for personal work unaware that his name had resurfaced at the High Court.

According to the police, Saxena had been living in Moradabad for years, working as a driver and presenting himself as a Muslim man under the name Abdul Rahim. Locals who knew him assumed he was originally from Islamnagar and worked around Transport Nagar.

Once arrested, Saxena admitted to the police exactly who he was.
“During questioning, he confessed that he is Pradeep Kumar Saxena and that he had jumped parole in 1989. He started living in Moradabad and changed his religion in 2002 to escape court action. He was produced in court yesterday,” the police statement confirmed.

Convict Changed Religion to Dodge Arrest

Bareilly city police chief Manush Parikh explained the case further, saying, “Pradeep Saxena had appealed the sentence in the high court and then jumped parole. When the high court asked the police to arrest him, we found he had concealed his identity and changed his religion to escape the law.”

Police added that Saxena had also married a Muslim woman in Moradabad and lived with her during the years he spent hiding.
“He was convicted of his brother’s murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. He has been arrested 36 years later,” the officer said.

What began as an old file on a shelf finally ended as a dramatic arrest proving that time may pass, identities may change, but a life sentence does not fade away.