Bengaluru police apprehended 35-year-old rowdy-sheeter Mohammed Farooq on Thursday after he evaded arrest for nearly a decade. Wanted for seven cases, including attempted murder, Farooq had been underground since 2016.

Despite questioning his relatives, including his brother-in-law in the Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) and his wife, sister of another rowdy-sheeter Jaani, police found no leads. The breakthrough came when an informant spotted Farooq’s Instagram post near Vidhana Soudha.

Investigators discovered that Farooq was running an Instagram account under his son’s name. Tracing his IP address led them to his phone number, but tower dumps only narrowed down his location to Doddakallasandra on Kanakapura Road. To pinpoint his exact address, police turned to online food delivery records linked to his number, revealing his residence.

Farooq, who had transitioned into a car dealership business and was living in a posh apartment, was arrested while picking up his child from school. Despite going off the radar, he skipped even his father’s funeral to avoid capture.