A month on the run, a trail of complaints: How police caught caretaker accused of killing retired IAS officer

A month-long manhunt across nine states, an examination of 2,500 CCTV cameras and questioning of over 100 people — that is how Madhya Pradesh Police tracked down and arrested a 27-year-old caretaker accused of murdering retired IAS officer Rakesh Agrawal at his Bhopal residence.

Agrawal, 70, a retired 1982-batch IAS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre, was found dead at his home in Suraj Nagar on September 30. His throat had been slit with a sharp-edged weapon. The accused, Varun Valmiki, allegedly fled the city by train hours after the incident and remained on the run until police teams tracked him down on the Agra-Mathura road in Agra.

Bhopal Police Commissioner Sanjay Kumar said investigators had not yet fully established the motive. “We are yet to fully discern his motive since he tried to flee from police custody. But he told us that the IAS officer had scolded him and behaved badly, which led him to take this step,” Kumar said.

After the incident, Valmiki left the house around 2:30 am. CCTV footage showed him boarding the Kerala Express at Bhopal railway station at 4:12 am, police said. He was arrested after a team received specific information about his presence in Agra and laid a trap on the highway.

Police teams searched across Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Chandigarh, Punjab, Delhi, Uttarakhand and Karnataka. Investigators examined more than 2,500 CCTV cameras and questioned over 100 people, including Valmiki’s relatives and acquaintances.

Investigators also tracked his movements through Gwalior, Agra, Mathura and Vrindavan, changing their appearance and posing as vendors, labourers and other workers to avoid alerting him. Police teams visited railway stations, bus stands, temples, shelters and other possible hideouts.

According to investigators, Valmiki had previously worked with home-care agencies in Jaipur, Gwalior and Nainital. Police said they had found complaints about his conduct at some of these workplaces, including an allegation that he had attempted to harm an elderly patient.

In Nainital, he reportedly worked from December 2025 to February 2026, caring for a 92-year-old retired person. Police said they had received information that Valmiki allegedly consumed intoxicants and that, on one occasion, neighbours intervened when he allegedly attempted to strangle the elderly person.

He was subsequently removed from the job, police said. In August 2026, Valmiki allegedly stole a mobile phone belonging to a home-nursing agency in Gwalior. No FIR was registered in the case, police said. In Jaipur, he had been employed as a caretaker in June 2026 but was removed following complaints about his behaviour, police said.

Agrawal's body was discovered at his residence, located near Pan Ghat Marriage Garden in Suraj Nagar, on September 30. A domestic worker, Amar Singh Paliwal, informed police after finding the retired officer dead with injuries to his neck.

Agrawal's wife was in another room when the incident occurred. She later found herself unable to open her bedroom door and sought help from another worker. Anand Mohan J is an award-winning Senior Correspondent for The Indian Express, currently leading the...

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