Cops hope to nab escaped prisoner with fresh sketch

In a breakthrough of sorts, J.J. Marg police succeeded in preparing a sketch of the prisoner who jumped parole and has been absconding since six years.

The police spoke to jail authorities and inmates who knew him to prepare a fresh sketch of him. The arrested accused was lodged in Amravati Prison before he jumped parole in the year 2010.

Sohel Abdul Rashid Sheikh, a repeat offender, was arrested in 1998 by the Colaba police station and booked for murder.

Later in 2000, he was sentenced to life imprisonment to be served at Central Prison in Amravati.

In 2010, when he was granted parole to visit his family, Sheikh did not return after the parole period ended. Jail authorities in January lodged an FIR against him at J.J. Marg police station, the place where he was supposed to mark attendance during parole.

The police launched a search but soon realised that the picture they had of him was old.

“We were looking for him based on a photograph clicked in 1998. So, we got in touch with jail authorities and other inmates who knew him and made a fresh sketch,” said an officer from J.J. Marg police station.

He added that they had started intimating their informers and efforts were underway to trace Sheikh.