Srinagar, Nov 12 : The long arm of law has caught up with perpetrators of a quadruple murder committed 26 long years ago in Ladakh's Kargil district.

Kargil police has solved this 26-year-old quadruple murder case, bringing justice to the families of the victims.

Police achieved this breakthrough after the arrest of three persons believed to have been responsible for one of the most gruesome crimes in Ladakh's history.

The tragic case began on October 7, 1998, when Bashir Ahmad from Tangole reported his missing brother Mohd Ali, along with three others, Haji Anayat Ali from Kargil, Shero Ali from Kathua, and Nazir Ahmad.

The men had set off for Wardwan to purchase livestock, but they never returned. Suspicion fell on three men, Mohd Rafeeq and Mohd Fareed from Hira Nagar, Kathua, and Abdul Aziz from Niyani, Samba.

When Haji Anayat's nephew, Mohd Yusuf, filed a formal complaint on April 17, 1999, an investigation began under FIR No. 37/1999, charging the suspects with abduction under Section 364 of RPC.

The initial investigation hit a dead end when the suspects, arrested in Khati Talab, Jammu, in April 1999, were released on bail due to insufficient evidence. Despite years of effort, the case was declared 'untraced' and closed in 2007.

However, skeletal remains were discovered near Kanital Glacier in 2011, later identified through DNA belonging to Nazir Ahmad and Shero Ali. This critical evidence re-opened the case and in 2012, charges were upgraded to murder and robbery, adding Sections 302 and 382 RPC.

However, tracking the suspects proved to be a wild goose chase. Living nomadic lifestyles, they frequently changed locations, evading capture.

The new police team under the leadership of SHO Inspector Manzoor Hussain at Panikhar Police Station, Kargil, and under close supervision by additional SP and SSP Kargil, through mobile tracking and coordination with local sources, the Kargil police located the suspects in Hira Nagar, Kathua.

They were finally taken into custody and taken on a seven-day police remand. The suspects' interrogation brought chilling details to light.

Confessions led Inspector Manzoor Hussain's team to the remote crime scene, retracing the suspects' steps over four days to recover vital evidence. Under the watchful presence of an executive magistrate and medical team, every step toward justice was taken with precision.

This remarkable investigative success is evidence of two things, crime never pays and law has a very long arm.

/IANS