Escaped criminal from Jammu caught in Delhi

NEW DELHI - A 26-year-old criminal who escaped from a police van in Jammu last week has been arrested here while trying to have his handcuffs removed, police said Monday.

Rahul, detained under the Public Safety Act in Jammu, escaped Feb 1 when he was being taken to a Jammu hospital for medical examination.

According to police, they received a tip Friday that a man was trying to take off his handcuffs near Delite Cinema in the city’s old quarters.

“He initially told us that he had escaped from the custody of Mumbai Police but we found that he had fled from Jammu and Kashmir,” a police official said.

Rahul is a known criminal in Udhampur district and had several criminal cases against him. He was arrested in August 2010.

He was involved in eight criminal cases including attempt to murder and illegal possession of weapons.