Kendrapada: For Hindi film buffs, the words “kanoon ke haath lambe hote hain”, is an all too familiar trope. On Saturday night, 54-year-old Nityananda Mallick realised there’s a whole lot of truth in it as well.For 31 years, Mallick had been on the run from family, friends and police. Accused of hacking his mother, Mataji Mallick (50), to death over a property dispute on June 6, 1995, Mallick went missing. He was 23 then.On Saturday night, his journey finally came to an end. Police, following a tip-off, arrested him from Kopanda village, 12 kilometres from his native Singhapur village in Jajpur district.While Mallick is yet to divulge much about his time on the run, police have found that he worked as a daily wager in various places and in different names. He did not use a mobile phone and got an Aadhaar card under a different identity.Initially after the crime, police carried out searches in different places. But with Mallick continuing to evade arrest, the raids failed and soon, police lost track.“Being a rural police station, we lacked technical support and logistics to trace his movements. When officers were transferred, their successors too made attempts, but eventually gave up,” said one officer on condition of anonymity.Recently, the state police headquarters directed all district SPs to intensify drives against long‑absconding offenders. Acting on the directive, Kendrapada police reopened the file on Mallick.During investigation, it was found that Mallick was frequenting Kopanda village, where he had built himself a a house. He used to keep visiting the place. Police carried out surveillance. On Friday, police received information that Mallick had been seen in the village. A team was dispatched and Mallick was arrested on Saturday night. During interrogation, he confessed to his crime, police said.“Through human intelligence, we picked up some leads. He recently visited his home. Acting on specific input, we finally arrested him,” the officer said.“Property dispute was the main reason behind the murder,” said Susanta Kumar Sethi, IIC of Kuakhia police station. Mallick was produced in the local court on Sunday. The court rejected his bail plea and remanded him to judicial custody.
Nityananda Mallick in police custody
