After remaining elusive for two months after a court in Jagatsinghpur district issued non-bailable warrants (NBWs) against Odisha Stevedores ltd (OSl) managing director Mahimananda Mishra and his close aide Basant Bal, the duo was detained in Thailand on Sunday in connection with the murder of Seaways Shipping general manager Mahendra Swain on October 26.

The duo had fled to Thailand via Nepal in the guise of tourists. With Mishra and Bal, nine persons have been arrested so far in the case.

“Thailand police have detained Mahima Mishra on the request of the Odisha police. He has been detained at the Bangkok Immigration Centre and would to be deported to India tomorrow. A team of police has left for Bangkok to bring him back to Odisha. He will be arrested formally on reaching Odisha,” DGP KB Singh told reporters here.

During his fugitive period, Mishra mostly stayed in five-star hotels at various places like New Delhi, Gurgano, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Bhimdutta (Indo-Nepal border), Kathmandu and Bangkok.

Mishra had tried hard to escape from India but could not succeed because of a timely issuance of a lookout Circular by police.

“lastly, he chose to escape to Nepal as there is an open border and no need of passport and visa. But the Odisha police was tracking him there also; so, he finally escaped to Bangkok,” said a DGP office communiqué.

Mishra and his aide Bal were also accused in the case of murder of a trade union leader, Bichitranad Mallick, in 1998 in Paradip, it stated.

This apart, Mishra was also involved in a kidnapping case in 1995 in Paradip, an attempt to murder case in the Colliery police station area in  Talcher in 2011 which was also a supari case arising out of a contract awarding dispute. Further, the role of Mishra in killing of one Arun Bhatt of the Sadar police station in Cuttack in 2013 near the DPS Kalinga owned by Mishra arising out of a land grabbing case is under scrutiny, the police communique added.