Bhubaneswar: The Nayapalli police on Friday arrested a murder accused who had been absconding for nearly 12 years.The accused, Sanju alias Sanjay Palai (43), was wanted in connection with the alleged murder of Gadadhar Behera, who was hacked to death inside his office in the upscale Nayapalli area in the early hours of Jan 18, 2014, reportedly over a previous enmity. Police said Behera was attacked by four assailants, including Palai. The three other accused in the case, Biswa Kalyan Pasupalak, Balaram Padhi and Chhabi Mallick, were arrested earlier.“Palai had been on the run since the murder and frequently changed locations to avoid detection. He worked in different states under fake identities and remained outside Odisha for most of the period,” a senior police officer said.Acting on a specific intelligence input about his presence in Bhubaneswar, a police team launched a surveillance operation and tracked his movements before conducting a raid.“Based on credible information, we identified his location and carried out an operation. He was arrested without any resistance. Further investigation is underway to ascertain his activities during the period he was absconding,” the officer added. Police said Palai was produced before a local court after his arrest and remanded to judicial custody.