THANE: The crime branch on Monday tracked down and arrested a 45-year-old murder convict who had jumped parole 13 years ago.In 2003, an Alibaug court had sentenced Kishore Gaikwad to life imprisonment following a six-year-long trial in a 1997 murder case of Mukund Mhatre. It is learnt Gaikwad was lodged at Yerwada prison in Pune and received parole in 2006."He jumped parole and was untraceable. We learnt he had changed his identity to Kishore Mhatre and did odd jobs for survival. More recently, he was working as an agent for a revenue official in Panvel and used to collect bribes on his behalf," said crime branch senior inspector Nitin Thakre.On January 10, ACB sleuths trapped the revenue officer, Mahesh Bhat. Gaikwad alias Mhatre, too, was arrested and spent a night in the Panvel town police station for accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 on Bhat's behalf. However, he secured bail the next day.Gaikwad, however, was spotted by his old associate who informed the crime branch here about his past."We had information he was scheduled to come to Vitava and kept a close watch near the check post. He was nabbed by our officers and after intense grilling he revealed his true identity and admitted to jumping parole," Thakre said.He added the convict has been handed over to the Kalamboli police.

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