Wanted American paedophile held in Mahabalipuram

Chennai, Kancheepuram: An American paedophile, Alan Jay Horowitz, wanted by the Interpol and listed among the 100 most wanted men in New York, was arrested in Mahabalipuram after a 11 month manhunt across Asia.

"We had a red corner alert from the Interpol about Horowitz. He arrested on Wednesday morning in Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram) . He has now been lodged in the Chennai Puzhal jail. We expect the extradition proceedings to start soon," Tamil Nadu state police director general D Mukherjee said.

Horowitz, 60, an ordained orthodox rabbi and a child psychiatrist, had jumped parole last year after serving 15 years in Oneida prison, NY, for sexual abuse of minors and had fled the United States with fake passport and travel documents.

Horowitz had reportedly travelled across several places in far east Asia including Hong Kong and Thailand taking cover among the high concentration of foreign travellers.

According to Superintendent of Police Amalraj, he had gone from Thailand to Bangalore, where he had stayed for about 15 days before arriving in Mahabalipuram. He had checked into the K R D hotel two weeks back.

However, with Mahabalipuram being a popular international tourist destination, he was soon tracked down by Interpol, which in turn informed the state police, and sought their assistance to arrest him. The American Consulate General in south India David T Hopper had also met DGP a couple of days ago to pass on information about the fugitive’s presence in the state. But when a police team headed by Mahabalipuram Inpspector Gunasekaran and SI Chandrasekaran reached the hotel on Tuesday evening, Horowitz managed to slip away, but was later intercepted when he was travelling in an auto-rickshaw.

After preliminary interrogation, he was produced him before the Thirukazukunram Judicial Magistrate court, which remanded him to 15 days judicial custody. He was later shifted to Puzhal prison in Chennai.

According to Mahablipuram police there were reports of sexual abuse of minors by Horowitz, though no one had lodged any formal complaint with the police.

Source: The New Indian Express

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