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Tracking 48-Year-Old Theft, Madhya Pradesh Cops Arrive To Arrest Man Who Died 21 Years Ago

"We found that he had died in June 1995."
Representational photo of Madhya Pradesh police.
Hindustan Times via Getty Images
Representational photo of Madhya Pradesh police.

BHOPAL-- In a bizarre story that has unfolded in Madhya Pradesh, the police took nearly 48 years to track down a suspect in a case of theft. However, when the police team reached his house, they found that he had died over 21 years ago.

In 1969, the suspect was accused of stealing an electricity wire in Bhind district in Chambal region of Madhya Pradesh. The value of the stolen wire was estimated at Rs 10 back then.

The complaint was made on behalf of the MP electricity board. The suspect was named and an FIR was lodged against him. The case had reached the court and an arrest warrant was also issued.

However, the suspect, Mahadev, couldn't be traced.

Recently, when the orders were given to start a drive to dispose off old warrants that had not been executed, the file of the case came up. The suspect was finally identified and police reached his home, only to find that he had died long ago.

"The permanent arrest warrant was issued by the court in this case in 2005. Recently, when the drive to execute pending warrants was initiated afresh, once again efforts to trace him began," said a Bhind police official who didn't want to be named.

"The problem was that there was confusion about the suspect's identity. When the case was registered, perhaps the attention was not given to it as it may have been considered a minor theft case. Hence, there was no other information about Mahadev, which is a common name, unless address, or father's name are known," the police official said.

He said that the team succeeded earlier this month in finally finding the accused. He said that they were finally able to trace him because of one policeman who belonged to the particular area in Bhind district where the suspect hailed from. The police managed to trace the suspect as Mahadev Kushwaha, a resident of Gohad town.

"But we found that he had died in June 1995," the official added.

Now that it has been confirmed that he is dead and the case can't be pursued further, his death certificate has been obtained. As the case was too old, it took hours even for the court staff to dig out the papers of the case.

The police officials at the Mehgaon police station in Bhind say that the certificate was submitted to court, putting an end to the case, finally.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.