An unusual newspaper advertisement leads Mumbai cops to dead man’s kin

The advertisement, which was placed in two other newspapers as well, read, “Amboli Police Station informs the public hereby that Mr Surendra Mulchand Durwani, age 60 years, residing at flat No. 8, B Wing, Bhimchayya Co-Op Hsg. Soc., R.T.O Lane, 4 Bungalows, Andheri West, Mumbai passed away (natural death) after prolonged illness on 5-4-2016 at Holy Family Hospital, Bandra. The complaint has been lodged that no family members or nearby relatives are traceable. The police officials are searching for the family members/ nearby relatives to hand over the dead body. If any family member/ nearby relative member is known to him then kindly contact Amboli police station within 5 days from this date or the body would be sent for cremation (sic).”

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The advertisement, which included Shisale’s phone number, was topped with a picture of Durwani wearing a blue hospital gown, with a breathing apparatus attached to his nose.

Durwani’s niece, who lives in Chembur, noticed it.

Within a day, his niece and estranged wife, who lives in Yari Road, Andheri West, identified the body, proved with documents that they were indeed related to him, and claimed the body for last rites.

The preceding month, meanwhile, when the police were trying to search his family members, had been marked with frustration. Durwani had deleted numbers of all relatives from his cell phone and kept no address books in his one-room apartment. “After inquiring with neighbours, we found a few email addresses, but the mails bounced back. We were even given an address in Los Angeles, USA, but the letter was returned as the address was incorrect,” Shisale said.

His boss, senior inspector Ramesh Khadtare, claimed that it is rare for the police to give notice in newspapers but insisted that this case demanded so. “Usually, we find phone numbers or addresses for the next of kin when we come across an unclaimed body. It is highly improbable that they won’t have relatives,” he said.

Normal procedure dictates fingerprints of the deceased be taken and the photograph of an unidentified dead person in the city be circulated across police stations in the hope it matches with the dozens of missing persons’ complaints, registered daily. When no one comes forward with a legitimate claim, the police waits for a fortnight before laying the body to rest. “We are just glad that the family responded in time,” Shisale said.

Since falling out with his family years ago, Durwani had been living alone in his third floor home with his four pet dogs for company. Only his affinity for the pets and his daily habit of feeding heaps of chicken to stray dogs in the lane where he stayed made him stand out in the middle class locality.

A homeowner since the building was constructed twenty years ago, none of his neighbours ever spotted any family member visiting him. Apart from walking his dogs – Jackie, Nancy, Casper and Duke – the only regulars in Durwani’s daily life were his two maids, who visited the house almost everyday ? one to cook and another to clean the house.

It was one of these women who who raised the alarm one January afternoon when Durwani was not answering the door. “The maid went to my wife for help and she asked me to come home,” said Sunil Shirke’s the society’s secretary, who lives on the floor below.

Shirke, in turn, rang for the police, who managed to force their way inside and found Durwani lying paralysed down the right side. He then spent the next three months in hospital. “We’re happy he could be with his family in the end,” Shirke said, admitting that he was clueless about Durwani’s estrangement from his wife. “Apart from a ‘hello’, he never spoke much to anyone. We did not know about his personal matters,” he added.

The police’s queries about the estrangement however was stone-walled by Durwani’s wife. “I wanted to know why they had been living apart for so many years and what they had fought over, but the wife said it was her personal business,” Shisale said.