Elderly Madhya Pradesh man arrested after 45 years for stealing 90 kg of wheat

A man accused of stealing 90 kilograms of wheat in Madhya Pradesh in 1980 has been arrested after spending 45 years on the run, police in Khargone district said.

The accused, identified as Salim, now 59, was picked up from Bag town in neighbouring Dhar district, where he had been living under a concealed identity and running a small grocery shop with his son. At the time of the alleged theft, the value of the wheat was Rs 184, with the rate fixed at Rs 2.05 per kilogram.

Police said the case dated back to 1980, when seven people were booked for stealing wheat kept in a field near the Balsamud area, around 80 km from the Khargone district. Warrants were issued against the accused, but two of them went absconding. Over the years, two of the seven accused died, while four others secured bail. Salim remained untraced until now.

SDOP Shweta Shukla said the arrest was made during a special drive launched to trace long-pending absconding warrant holders. "On the directions of senior officers, teams were activated to locate permanent absconders. While verifying an old 1980 theft case, we found that one accused was still missing. He was tracked and arrested from Bag in Dhar district," she said.

According to police, Salim had changed his identity and settled just about 90 km from the crime spot. He was running a kirana store and had managed to avoid detection for decades. After his arrest, he was produced before the Kasrawad court and sent to judicial custody.

Officials said the breakthrough came when police went to search for another accused named Salim in Dewas, only to learn that he had died. During inquiries with the family, officers received information that the other absconding accused, Salim, was living in Bag. The lead eventually resulted in the arrest.

Police also quoted Salim as saying he believed the case had been forgotten with time. "He told us he assumed that after so many years, the police would no longer pursue the matter, which is why he continued working normally," an officer said.

However, the arrest has triggered questions from the family. Salim's wife, Tasleem, alleged that he was a minor when the theft occurred. "He was barely 13 to 15 years old then. How can a case run against a minor after 45 years? Our entire family lived in Balkhad, yet the police never came earlier," she said. She also claimed she had to spend around Rs 15,000 on bail and was forced to pay Rs 6,000 to the complainant.

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