New Delhi, Apr 27 (PTI) A 37-year-old criminal, wanted in a rape case, was arrested by the crime branch of Delhi Police, officials said on Sunday.

Accused Javed alias Pawwa, a resident of Tagore Garden here, was on the run since January in connection with the rape case registered at Nabi Karim police station, they said.

Also Read | TNPSC Group 4 Recruitment 2025: 3,935 Vacancies Announced for Village Administrative Officer, Junior Assistant, Typist and Other Posts; Know How To Apply Online at tnpsc.gov.in Before May 24.

Nearly three dozen cases are registered against him across the national capital, police said.

According to the officials, acting on a specific input about Javed's movement, a police team laid a trap near Jagatpur Pusta in the Wazirabad area.

Also Read | What Is Sachet? All You Need To Know About the National Disaster Alert App Mentioned by PM Narendra Modi in Mann Ki Baat.

The accused, while getting out of a vehicle, was intercepted by the police team, a senior police officer said.

"But Javed pulled out an illegal firearm and fired at the police, narrowly missing a head constable. The police team engaged the accused in a physical scuffle and managed to overpower him. The pistol along with five live and one empty cartridges was seized," he said.

Police said Javed has a long criminal history and is a proclaimed history-sheeter of Khyala police station in West District.

According to police, in the last week of January 2025, a woman filed a complaint at Nabi Karim police station alleging that Javed visited her residence in December 2024 and raped her at gunpoint.

In her FIR, the woman also said Javed is a friend of Ankush whom she came into contact in May 2024.

Police said that Ankush and the woman were in a relationship and she also became pregnant. Later, Ankush allegedly assaulted her, resulting in a miscarriage, they said.

While Ankush was arrested earlier, Javed had been absconding and constantly changing his hideouts to evade arrest, police said.

During interrogation, Javed revealed that he is from Hapur in Uttar Pradesh and later shifted to Delhi, where his father ran a business in Chandni Chowk.

He studied up to class 5 before joining his father's trade. In 2013, he married a Hindu woman against his family's wishes and subsequently moved away from them, eventually stepping into the world of crime, police said.

His first arrest was recorded in 2013 in a snatching case at Rajouri Garden. Since then, he has been booked in about three dozen cases under various charges, including robbery, dacoity, theft, snatching and arms-related offences across Delhi and parts of Rajasthan.

In 2021, he, along with his associates, committed a dacoity at gunpoint in a house in Uttam Nagar and was later arrested. He was released from jail in December 2024 and married again in January 2025, police said.

The cases against Javed are registered at various police stations across Delhi, such as Rajouri Garden, Malviya Nagar, Khyala, Greater Kailash, Punjabi Bagh, Uttam Nagar, and also at Alwar in Rajasthan.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)