Panaji, May 1 (IANS): The Goa Police Crime Branch on Saturday arrested an undertrial Hemchand Bharadwaj, a Himachal Pradesh resident, after he returned to his native village during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. He had escaped a Goa prison in August 2020.

A statement issued by the Crime Branch said that Bharadwaj, who is facing a drug-offence related trial in Goa, was arrested at his ancestral home in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh on Saturday.

The statement said that Bharadwaj, after his escape from Goa's Colvale central jail in August last year, he "remained hiding across Goa, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh being careful to not remain in the same place for too long".

"Seeing the opportunity to visit his hometown during Covid, he was apprehended in his hometown by the team of Crime Branch," the statement said.

Bharadwaj was arrested for the possession of one kg hashish in early 2020 by officials attached to the Pernem police station in North Goa.