From correspondents in Uttar Pradesh, India, 06:00 PM IST

The Uttar Pradesh police Thursday arrested a criminal, wanted in over 30 cases, including murder, from Guwahati district in Assam, officials here said.

The Special Task Force (STF) of the Uttar Pradesh Police arrested Janak Yadav alias Ajay Jadeja, who is wanted in over 30 criminal cases in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan.

There was a Rs.20,000 reward for the capture of Jadeja.

'The cases include those of murder and kidnapping for ransom, among others. He was arrested after prolonged surveillance,' deputy superintendent of police, STF, Ram Badan Singh, who led the operations, told IANS.

Jadeja was arrested in Uttar Pradesh earlier this year and was lodged in the Unnao district jail.

He, however, fled from police custody in April while being taken to Gurgaon for a court hearing.

'He is a native of Sipri Bazar in Jhansi and is also wanted in connection with the murder of the deputy jailor of Meerut jail earlier this year. A police team has left for Guwahati to bring Jadeja,' additional director general of police, crime, law and order, Brijlal said.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)