MUMBAI, May 29 -- The Mira-Bhayandar, Vasai-Virar (MBVV) police crime branch has solved a 24-year-old "cold case" involving the alleged murder of a 56-year-old man by an autorickshaw driver in Virar West. The accused was arrested on Tuesday from Palghar district and produced before a court on Wednesday, when he was remanded in police custody for four days. According to the police, the deceased, Moharam Ali, was a resident of Arnala Shantinagar in Virar West. On the evening of October 14, 2001, Ali flagged an auto rickshaw belonging to the accused, 19-year-old Haroon Ali Sayyed. Sayyed stopped his auto, but refused to ply, leading to a heated exchange of words with Ali and his acquaintance. At one point, Sayyed pulled out a knife from his auto in a fit of rage and stabbed Ali in his stomach, leaving him seriously injured. He was rushed to Sanjeevani Hospital, where he died during treatment. The Virar police registered a murder case against Sayyed at the time and MG Khairnar, the investigating officer in the case, filed a charge sheet in court against him under section 299 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which allows for recording of evidence in the absence of an absconding accused. There was little progress in the case in the ensuing period till the MBVV police commissioner directed police officers to trace and nab the absconding accused in old serious crimes. Accordingly, unit three of the MBVV crime branch formed a team to look for Sayyed. They took five months to locate eyewitnesses and fellow auto drivers who knew the accused and found out that he was a native of Uttar Pradesh. The police used specialised software to construct the face of the 43-year-old Sayyed based on sketches of him as a 19-year-old. A police team also travelled to Uttar Pradesh and questioned Sayyed's relatives, including his sister who game them his mobile number. The mobile number was in use in Talasari in Palghar district, crime branch officers found. On Tuesday, they went to Talasari, arrested Sayyed and brought him to Virar. "Sayyed was produced before the court on Wednesday where he was remanded to police custody for four days," said an officer from the MBVV crime branch....