Major Crackdown: 367 Wanted Criminals Arrested Across Mumbai

Mumbai Police have arrested 367 absconding accused involved in serious criminal cases during a special drive conducted between January and March, officials said on Thursday.

The arrested individuals were wanted in a range of offences, including theft, cheating, assault, organised crime, and other pending criminal cases registered across multiple police stations. Many of them had skipped bail, failed to appear in court, or evaded arrest for years , contributing to a growing backlog of unresolved cases.

Among those apprehended, 18 accused had been on the run for more than 20 years , while 302 had been absconding for at least five years . The operation was carried out under the direction of Police Commissioner Deven Bharti.

Police officials said several of the accused had adopted fake identities and relocated to different states to avoid detection, often blending into local communities and taking up small jobs.

In one of the oldest cases, the Azad Maidan Police Station traced an accused who had been evading arrest since 1987 in connection with a long-pending criminal case. Similarly, the N M Joshi Marg Police Station arrested a fugitive linked to a case registered in 1988 . Both had been living outside Maharashtra under assumed names for decades.

The crackdown involved extensive coordination among police units , use of crime-mapping and data analysis tools , and verification of suspected networks and past records to track down the fugitives.

Officials said many of the accused were part of repeat offender networks and had managed to evade law enforcement due to gaps in tracking and inter-state coordination.

The police said such targeted drives will continue periodically to trace absconders, expedite pending cases, and strengthen the criminal justice system.