84-year-old held in 1986 wife murder case in east Delhi

New Delhi: Nearly four decades after a man allegedly murdered his wife in east Delhi, police have arrested the accused, officials said on Thursday.

The case dates back to Oct 19, 1986, when the accused, identified as Chandra Shekhar Prasad, now 84, allegedly killed his wife at their Shakarpur residence by crushing her head with bricks, suspecting her of having an extramarital affair.

Police said a domestic worker present in the house at the time was allegedly held at gunpoint by Prasad and his associates during the incident. After the murder, the accused fled and was declared an absconder by a court in 1987.

“He was arrested on Wednesday from a factory storeroom in Nangli Poona in north-west Delhi, where he was allegedly living under a false identity,” a senior police officer said.

Investigators said the case remained unresolved for decades due to the absence of photographs, digital records and reliable identification tools at the time. In recent months, fresh efforts were initiated after police received inputs that Prasad’s family members were based in Delhi and Bihar.

Police tracked suspicious mobile numbers and carried out field verification in Nalanda district of Bihar, confirming that Prasad was alive and occasionally visited the area. Surveillance was subsequently mounted, leading to his arrest in Delhi, officers said.