Surat: Valsad police on Wednesday arrested two murder convicts serving life terms who had been absconding for years after being temporarily released from Lajpore Central Jail (LCJ).The duo — Kinnari Patel (36) and Riyaz Mansuri (38) — were traced to Vikas Nagar in Panipat, Haryana, where they had been living together. Both were taken into custody and sent back to the jail.According to police, the two got acquainted and developed a relationship while serving their sentences in the Surat jail. After being released — Patel on furlough and Mansuri on parole — neither returned and instead fled to Haryana.The two had been living together in Panipat and ran a small business, selling carpets and bedsheets, police said. Patel, a resident of Lilapore village in Valsad, was convicted in Nov 2013 for the murder of her husband, Hitesh. Mansuri was convicted in June 2012 for a 2009 murder registered at Limbayat police station, Surat, and was also sent to LCJ to serve a life term.“They came in contact with during their imprisonment and grew close. They planned to live together after securing temporary release from jail,” a police officer said.Patel was granted furlough on Oct 9, 2017, and failed to return after 15 days, leading to an offence being registered at Valsad rural police station under the Prison Act in 2019. Mansuri, released on parole on May 28, 2018, also did not return to jail by the due date, prompting a case at Limbayat police station the same year.
