LUCKNOW, Feb. 16 -- What began as a dramatic 'abduction' of a serving constable of Uttar Pradesh Special Security Force while he was on a morning walk on Sunday turned out to be a covert operation by Rajasthan Police that had picked up Akhilesh Tripathi in connection with a 24-year-old criminal case. Around 9 am, Tripathi, a resident of Gwari village under Gomti Nagar here, went for a morning walk along with his two sons. Tripathi is currently deployed at Ambedkar Park. According to his sons, a black SUC suddenly screeched to a halt beside them. Several men in civvies stepped out and swiftly bundled Tripathi into the vehicle before speeding away. The entire episode unfolded within minutes, leaving bystanders stunned. The information triggered an alarm within the Gomti Nagar police. Senior officers rushed to the spot, CCTV footage was scanned and the case was initially treated as a possible kidnapping. For nearly three hours, uncertainty loomed large. Family members and locals feared the worst as police teams fanned out to trace the vehicle. The dramatic twist came when an inter-state coordination revealed that Tripathi was wanted in a 2002 criminal case in Rajasthan, carrying a reward of Rs.25,000. A team from Gangapur city police station of Rajasthan's Sawai Madhopur district had tracked his location and carried out the early morning pick-up operation. Once confirmation arrived from the Rajasthan Police, Lucknow cops heaved a sigh of relief. What appeared to be a brazen abduction was, in fact, the culmination of a long-pending manhunt stretching over two decades, said BC Tiwari, SHO, Gomti Nagar police station....