After 12-year run, murder convict actor held in Gujarat

AHMEDABAD: A murder convict who jumps parole would normally go into hiding to remain off the police radar. But Hemant Nagindas Modi, serving life term in connection with a 2005 murder case when he decamped, spent the last 12 years quite brazenly in front of the camera.

The 53-year-old — known in entertainment circles as Spandan Modi and sometimes Twinkle Dave — acted alongside some of India’s biggest movie stars even as he remained listed as a fugitive in police records. His Bollywood run finally ended Wednesday when Ahmedabad crime branch arrested him from a rented house in the city.Parole jumper hid in plain sight as supporting actor Police said Hemant and six others were awarded life sentence in 2008 for the murder of Narendra Kamble during a violent neighbourhood clash in Naroda.

He was lodged in Sabarmati jail before being shifted to Mehsana prison. In July 2014, the Gujarat high court granted him 30 days’ parole. Instead of surrendering at the end of the period, he vanished and quietly slipped into the state’s theatre circuit, before gradually reinventing himself and building a career in Mumbai’s entertainment industry. Hemant was not doing just small gigs, but maintained an active and visible profile.

He got so confident that he began to work openly in films, serials and theatre, said a police officer. During the many years he was on the run, police said Hemant played a supporting actor in several major productions, including ‘Thugs of Hindostan’ starring Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan, ‘Jayeshbhai Jordaar’ starring Ranveer Singh, ‘Metro In Dino’ that featured Konkana Sen Sharma and Pankaj Tripathi, ‘Lahore 1947’ starring Sunny Deol and Vicky Kaushal, and the big-budget Malayalam film ‘L2: Empuraan’ featuring Mohanlal and Prithviraj.

He also appeared in several Hindi and Gujarati television serials and web series. A crime branch officer said: “After fleeing parole, he initially lived in Patan before moving to Mumbai where he kept changing paying guest accommodation. To avoid detection, he changed his looks and identities repeatedly, and completely cut off contact with his past life.” Hemant’s luck finally ran out on Wednesday. The cops verified old court and jail records before zeroing in on his location, ending a decade-long manhunt. According to police, the breakthrough came after they received specific intelligence that he had recently returned to Ahmedabad, apparently believing enough time had passed for him to move around unnoticed.