A woman serving a life sentence for kidnapping and murdering a 10-year-old boy went to all lengths to evade arrest after skipping parole two decades ago — a new name, a new town, a new job, and marriage under her assumed identity.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Harsh Indora said Sadhana, who later adopted the name Pooja, was arrested in Haridwar on September 27. “She had been absconding since January 18, 2006, after failing to surrender at the end of her extended parole,” the DCP said.

Sadhana had been lodged in Central Jail since January 9, 1990, and was released on parole on December 27, 2005. Her parole was later extended by three weeks on medical grounds, but she failed to surrender on January 18, 2006, police said. “An inmate helped her to get parole,” the officer said.

“While looking for her after her name was shared with the team as a parole jumper, we reached her former partner Raj Kumar, who shared details of another man she was with. We then reached him, who told us about Keshav. With the help of technical surveillance, we reached Keshav and found that he was living with Pooja, who was originally Sadhna,” the officer said.