A 26-year-old “missing" woman from Burhanpur district in Madhya Pradesh, whose father and brother were arrested by Maharashtra Police on charges of “murdering" her, has been found alive, an official said on Thursday.
Abhishek Jadhav, in charge of Khaknar police station in Burhanpur district, told PTI that the families of Shivani Bapuram Kalmekar and Arun Dadu Kalmekar (24), residents of Khadki village, had lodged complaints earlier this month, a few days after the two went missing.
“During our investigation, we found that Arun was working as a labourer near Nashik in Maharashtra and Shivani was staying with him. The couple has been traced," Jadhav said.
He said legal formalities, including thumb impression verification, panchnama and statements of relatives, confirmed that the woman was indeed Shivani.
Jadhav said the Maharashtra Police had claimed Shivani was murdered after a headless and partially burnt body of a young woman was found on April 26 under the jurisdiction of the Jalgaon Jamod police station in the neighbouring state’s Buldhana district.
Based on that investigation, Maharashtra Police arrested Shivani’s father, Bapuram Kalmekar (55), and brother Ajay Kalmekar (27), on murder charges.
“We have officially informed the Maharashtra Police that Shivani, whom they presumed dead, has been found alive. Further probe is being conducted by them," Jadhav said.
Burhanpur in MP and Buldhana in Maharashtra are adjoining districts.
While residents of Burhanpur expressed anger over the arrest of the duo, Shivani said, “I am alive. Nothing wrong has happened to me. My father and brother should be released."
Meanwhile, Inspector Nitin Patil from the Jalgaon-Jamod police station told reporters that the Khaknar police from MP informed him on Wednesday that Shivani was alive.
“We are verifying the information and have called the woman to the police station to record her statement. We are carrying out further legal procedures," he added.
