For nearly two decades, a history-sheeter from Moradabad named Naresh lived a quiet life in neighbouring Sambhal, assuming a new name — and religious identity.

Police said he went by the name Sultan, grew out his beard, took a house on rent near a mosque, and offered namaz. He also obtained forged documents, including an Aadhaar card, voter ID and PAN card, to bolster his fake identity.

It was during a routine verification drive last week to check the whereabouts of listed history-sheeters in the district that uncovered his carefully constructed double life, and led to the arrest of the 58-year-old.

“Naresh, a listed history-sheeter who had been missing for nearly two decades, was found living in Sambhal under the assumed identity of Sultan,” said Ran Vijay Singh, Additional Superintendent of Police, Moradabad. “We are now gathering details regarding the current status of cases registered against him.”

The op

According to Station House Officer of Pakwarha police station, Yogesh Kumar, a team was on routine patrol on Saturday, checking suspicious persons and vehicles and verifying accused persons and history-sheeters through the Yaksh app.

At the Hashampur crossing, the team received a tip-off — the informant said Naresh had gone to Pakwarha to meet someone and was at Dingarpur Road, preparing to leave.

Acting swiftly, the police team caught the suspect. When questioned, police said he initially identified himself as Sultan, son of Jamaluddin, a resident of Naharthair village in Sambhal.

During a search of his personal belongings, officers said they found an Aadhaar card, a PAN card and an e-Shram card with the same name and address.

They also recovered a small handbook written in Urdu from his kurta pocket. A purported letterhead of a right-wing group in the name of Sultan was also recovered, police said.

However, police said, a further search led to the recovery of a voter ID card in the name of Naresh, son of Shankar, as well as an Aadhaar card bearing the same name and an address in Moradabad’s Hashampur Gopal village.

Noticing the discrepancies in the recovered documents, police said they questioned the man again and he admitted that his real name is Naresh.

Police said he told them that multiple cases of robbery and dacoity had been registered against him and he was jailed for eight-nine years. He also said a history sheet had been opened against him at Pakwarha police station, leading to frequent police visits to his home.

To escape police scrutiny, officers said he told them he left his village 20-21 years ago, abandoning his family and relocating to Sambhal, where he began living under a false identity.