Maharashtra man found alive after family buries \'body\'

Palghar: A 60-year-old auto-rickshaw driver, presumed dead by his family and buried, has been found alive in Maharashtra's Palghar district, police said on Monday. The driver was on Sunday found staying at a destitute home here and a video clip of his chat with a friend went viral on social media. Efforts are now on to identify the deceased buried by the family, a police official said.

On January 29, a unidentified man was killed after being run over by a train while crossing a track between Boisar and Palghar stations.

The Government Railway Police (GRP) in Palghar circulated the deceased's pictures on social media.

A man from Palghar approached the GRP and claimed the deceased was his brother Rafique Shaikh, who went missing two months back for which the family had also lodged a police complaint, GRP Inspector Naresh Randhir said.

After this claim, the Palghar GRP contacted the "dead" man's wife who was in Kerala. She came to Palghar and also identified the body following which it was handed over to the family, the official said.

The family members buried the body a couple of days back, he said.

On Sunday, a friend of Shaikh was shocked when he casually called the latter on his phone and he responded. The two had a video chat and Shaikh informed his friend that he was fine, the official said.

The chat clip has gone viral on social media platforms.

The family members of the driver were informed about this. They got in touch with Shaikh and also informed about the development to police, the official said.

According to the police official, Shaikh left his house a couple of months back and landed at a destitute home at Saphala in Palghar.

He further said the family members had identified the body and it was handed over to them after following all required formalities.

The police were later informed about Shaikh being alive, he said.

"Now, our task is to trace the family of the unidentified dead man who has been buried," the official said.