PALGHAR, Maharashtra, Dec 24, 2025: Police in Palghar district have arrested a 42-year-old man accused in a murder case registered in 2009 in Nalasopara. The man was on the run for about 16 years and was caught earlier this week, officers said.

The accused has been named as Avinash Lalta Prasad Soni. Police said he and others were booked in 2009 after a man was killed in Nalasopara in a dispute linked to brokerage money. Other accused were arrested earlier, but Soni had allegedly fled and stayed outside Maharashtra for years using a false identity.

Senior inspector Vishal Valvi of Nalasopara police station said Soni was arrested from Naigaon East, on the outskirts of Mumbai, on December 22, after police received a tip.

Police said the case dates back to 2009, when the victim had gone to recover money. Investigators say the attack happened in the Nalasopara area and the case was registered at Nalasopara police station. Soni later moved to Itarsi in Madhya Pradesh and stayed there for several years, police said.

In a separate detail shared by another report, police said the victim in the 2009 case was Vinod Shankarlal Jaiswal, and that the killing happened between late April and early May 2009.

During questioning, Soni also told police that he was involved in another murder in Uttar Pradesh in 1998. Police said he claimed the incident took place in Azamgarh around Holi and involved four other people. Nalasopara police said they are coordinating with Kotwali police station in Azamgarh for further steps.

Police say Soni was arrested on December 22 and is now in custody in the 2009 murder case. They say they are checking his claims about the 1998 case with Uttar Pradesh Police. As of Wednesday, police have not shared more details on what action, if any, will follow in the UP case.

Police in Palghar have arrested a man wanted in a 2009 Nalasopara murder case after about 16 years. Investigators say the accused had been living under a false identity outside Maharashtra and has also claimed links to a 1998 murder case in Uttar Pradesh, which police are now checking.