The accused, identified as Harihara Pattjoshi of Berhampur, was arrested by a team of Chennai police with the help of Berhampur police while he was trying to escape.

As per reports, Pattjoshi had migrated to Chennai in early 1990s when he was 23 and found work at a printing press in an advertisement company there.

He reportedly met Indira, then 21, during work related assignment and both fell in love. Their marriage was solemnised on July 14, 1994. However, after a few months they separated following domestic disputes and Indira filed for divorce petition in local court which enraged Pattjoshi.

He allegedly attacked his wife, mother-in-law identified as Rama, 48, and brother-in-law Karthik, 24, at their Nanganallur residence in Chennai on August 9, 1995. While his mother-in-law died, both Indira and Karthik sustained grievous injuries in the attack.

Following the incident, Chennai police had launched an investigation after registration of a murder case at S8 Adambakkam police station. However, Pattjoshi managed to escape from Chennai and absconded.

Multiple police teams have camped and conducted raids at Berhampur and nearby places over the last 28 years but the man could not be arrested.

Since 1995, the accused had been hiding in various locations throughout Odisha and also in Surat, Berhampur SP Saravana Vivek M was quoted by media as saying. He had shifted many houses during the past 28 years. The accused was staying with his wife and a daughter from his second marriage.

A week ago, a four-member police team from Adambakkam police station reached Gosaninuagaon following a tip-off and sought assistance for Berhampur police, which immediately provided a 11-member police team to arrest Pattjoshi.

After one week of search, police teams were able to trace the accused hiding in a location under Gosaninuagaon police station area. He was apprehended while he was trying to escape again near the railway station, police said.

The special train, which started from Chennai, was privately booked by a group for a religious function at Gujarat’s Palitana, informed Central Railway’s chief public relations officer Dr Shivraj Manaspure.

“Around 80 to 90 passengers from a coach complained of food poisoning between Solapur and Pune. They complained of nausea, loose motion and headache,” the railway official said.

A team of doctors attended to the sick passengers at Pune station and provided them treatment on board.

“The train departed after 50 minutes. The condition of all passengers was stable,” the official said.

He claimed that the food consumed by the passengers was not supplied by the Railways or Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).

Born on August 7, 1925 in Tamil Nadu’s Thanjavur district, he was an agronomist, agricultural scientist, plant geneticist, administrator, and humanitarian who played a crucial role in developing high-yielding varieties of paddy that helped ensure India’s low-income farmers produce more yield.

Swaminathan started his career in 1949 researching on the genetics of potato, wheat, rice and jute. When India was on the verge of a mass famine leading to scarcity of food grains, Swaminathan along with Norman Borlaug and other scientists developed the high yield variety seeds of wheat.

Swaminathan, who is known as the “Father of Economic Ecology” by the United Nations Environment Programme, worked with agriculture ministers including C Subramaniam and Jagjivan Ram during 1960s and 70s for the success of the ‘Green Revolution,’ an initiative that paved the way for exponential rise in productivity of wheat and rice through adaptation of chemical-biological technology.For developing and spearheading the introduction of high-yielding wheat and rice varieties into India, he was awarded the first World Food Prize in 1987 following which he set up the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation in Chennai. Swaminathan was also awarded with Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1971 and the Albert Einstein World Science Award in 1986.

He had also been conferred with the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and the Padma Vibhushan. He is also the recipient of the H K Firodia award, the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award and the Indira Gandhi Prize.

The Indian agriculturalist had also held administrative positions in various agricultural research laboratories. He served as the director general of Indian Council of Agricultural Research and later International Rice Research Institute. He also served as the principal secretary of the ministry of agriculture in 1979.

For developing and spearheading the introduction of high-yielding wheat and rice varieties into India, he was awarded the first World Food Prize in 1987 following which he set up the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation in Chennai. Swaminathan was also awarded with Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1971 and the Albert Einstein World Science Award in 1986.

He had also been conferred with the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and the Padma Vibhushan. He is also the recipient of the H K Firodia award, the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award and the Indira Gandhi Prize.

The Indian agriculturalist had also held administrative positions in various agricultural research laboratories. He served as the director general of Indian Council of Agricultural Research and later International Rice Research Institute. He also served as the principal secretary of the ministry of agriculture in 1979.

In 1988, Swaminathan became the president of the International Union of the Conservation of Nature and Natural resources. In 2004, he was appointed as chair of the National Commission on Farmers.

Beyond his work in the country, Swaminathan was an spectacular figure globally, contributing to various international agricultural and environmental initiatives. He was named one of the 20 most influential Asians of the 20th century by Time magazine.

He is survived by his three daughters Soumya, Madhura, and Nitya. His wife Mina died in 2022.