Summary The case dates back to 2018, when Tugrul Bashar was sentenced to three years in prison after being convicted in three cases
(Web Desk) - Turkish authorities have arrested a convicted fugitive eight years after he escaped imprisonment by drastically changing his appearance and allegedly posing as a woman while using his sister’s identity documents.
According to media reports, the case dates back to 2018, when Tugrul Bashar was sentenced to three years in prison after being convicted in three cases involving theft and impersonating an official. He subsequently fled before serving his sentence.
During his years on the run, Bashar reportedly made extensive changes to his appearance, making it difficult for investigators to identify him using photographs available in police records.
After conventional efforts to locate him based on his appearance repeatedly failed, authorities changed their approach and began investigating his lifestyle, movements and other personal details rather than relying solely on his physical appearance.
Reports said Bashar went further than simply altering his appearance. While living in hiding, he adopted a female appearance and allegedly used his sister’s official identity card while travelling around Istanbul. He reportedly presented the document at police checkpoints as his own identification.
His elaborate attempt to remain undetected began to unravel when investigators noticed purchases made using his sister’s credit cards. Since she was reportedly outside the country at the time, the transactions raised suspicions and prompted authorities to investigate further.
Police surveillance eventually led investigators to an address in Istanbul’s Kadikoy district, where they carried out a raid and located the fugitive.
This time, his disguise and use of his sister’s identity were not enough to conceal his identity. Police obtained his fingerprints and compared them with their records, confirming that the person in custody was Bashar, who had been wanted since 2018.
The fingerprint match finally brought an eight-year manhunt to an end, closing an unusual case in which authorities had been unable to identify the fugitive despite his years of disguise and use of another person’s identity.
