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Kerala police have made an arrest in a murder case that had been open for almost nineteen years, the Indian Express reported.
Quick Facts
| Crime | Murder of a sawmill manager, Perinthalmanna, Malappuram |
| Year | December 2007 |
| Arrest | 20 September 2026, Dhemaji district, Assam |
| Arrested | Dilip Rajak, 65, a migrant worker from Bihar |
| Still wanted | Sanichar Baita, also from Bihar |
| Distance covered by investigators | About 3,600 km |
The Arrest
The Malappuram crime branch arrested Dilip Rajak at a rice mill godown in Assam’s Dhemaji district.
“Dilip had always feared that one day he would be caught by police,” said Crime Branch Inspector Ameerali V. “With help from the Assam police, he was taken into custody. He did not resist.”
The Case
According to police, Rajak and Sanichar Baita came to Kerala in early December 2007 after working at rice mills in Assam. They took jobs at a sawmill in Perinthalmanna, giving their names as Umesh and Vinod.
When the mill closed for a few days in mid-December, the two men stayed on, as did the manager, Balakrishnan. Around the same time there was an attempted robbery at a nearby bank.
When the mill reopened, all three were missing. On 27 December, workers found Balakrishnan’s body hidden under a pile of sawdust.
Why It Took So Long
The names the two men had given were false, and early inquiries into their background led nowhere. Police say the investigation went on to span Kerala, Assam and Bihar.
Legal Position
Rajak has been charged, not convicted. The allegations will be tested in court.
Source: Indian Express (9 October 2026).
Featured image: Kerala Police officers in 2010 (file photo, unconnected to this case). Photo by Liji Jinaraj, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.