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

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

The suspect, identified as Salim, now 59, was nabbed from Bag town in neighboring Dhar district, where he was living under a hidden 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 being fixed at Rs 2.05 per kilogram.

Police said the case dated back to 1980, when seven people were arrested for stealing wheat kept in a field near the Balsamud area, about 80 km from Khargone district. Arrest warrants were issued for the suspects, but two of them went into hiding. Over the years, two of the seven suspects died, while four others were granted bail. Salim has gone unnoticed until now.

SDOP Shweta Shukla said the arrest took place during a special operation to trace long-pending absconding arrest warrant holders. “On the directions of senior officers, teams were activated to locate permanent absconders. While verifying an old theft case from 1980, we found that one suspect 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 about 90 km from the crime scene. He ran a kirana shop and managed to avoid detection for decades. After his arrest, he was produced before the Kasrawad court and taken into custody.

Officials said the breakthrough came when police in Dewas searched for another suspect named Salim but discovered that he had died. During inquiries with the family, officers received information that the other absconding suspect, Salim, lived in Bag. The lead ultimately resulted in the arrest.

Police also quoted Salim as saying he believed the case had been forgotten over time. “He told us that he assumed that after so many years the police would no longer prosecute the case and that is why he continued to work normally,” said an officer.

However, the arrest raises questions among the family. Salim’s wife, Tasleem, claimed he was a minor when the theft occurred. “He was barely 13 to 15 years old then. How can a case against a minor be open after 45 years? Our entire family lived in Balkhad but the police never came before,” she said. She also alleged that 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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