New Delhi: Nearly 29 years after a 58-year-old man was found murdered and his body concealed inside a wooden divan box in west Delhi, the crime branch has arrested the prime accused absconding since 1997.Mohammad Fahim was arrested from Thakurganj in Lucknow on July 3. Wanted in the murder case registered at Rajouri Garden police station, Fahim was declared a proclaimed offender in Oct 1997 after repeatedly evading arrest.On March 14, 1997, the body of Sharif Hasan Khan, a resident of Ayodhya district in Uttar Pradesh who worked at a clothing shop in Rajouri Garden, was found in a room at TC Camp, Raghubir Nagar.Police said Fahim had come to Delhi in search of work and knew Khan. They found that the two had allegedly quarrelled on March 13 after Fahim allegedly stole money from Khan. Fahim allegedly assaulted Khan repeatedly with an iron rod, strangled him with a rope and hid the body inside a divan before fleeing.Fahim has confessed to the crime, claimed police. He had lived in places, including Nagpur, Mumbai and Lucknow, as Ali Bhai while working as a plaster of Paris artisan, said police.
